


Miller's Groupie

by LastNightFanfictionSavedMyLife



Series: Shield Wolf [1]
Category: No Offence (TV)
Genre: F/M, Falling In Love, Flirting, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Humor, Love, Mental Health Issues, Police, Romance, Sex, Smut, The plot bunnies wouldn't leave me alone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-11
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:41:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 21,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27083560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LastNightFanfictionSavedMyLife/pseuds/LastNightFanfictionSavedMyLife
Summary: More details added and chapters extended 11-01-21.-Late night work sessions lead to friendship, flirting, drinks and meals out. These, in turn, lead to eventual companionship, romance, smut and love.A silly, humorous slow burn fluffymost fic of the most fluffety fluffiest silliest fluff that no one will probably ever read but me. With Angst thrown in for good measure. As always in my stories, it has a Happy Ending (TM).Based upon 'No Offence' a most excellent channel 4 police procedural series. Seriously, it's brilliant, go watch it!Professor Randolph Miller is truly an amazing character who reminds me of a uni tutor I had.This collection of linked one-shots is set sometime after series three has ended.-This has been sat on my computer for a while, waiting to be edited... I finally procrastinated from my procrastination and got it posted.-I was listening to Royal Blood (Trouble's Coming) while editing this - which is possibly the soundtrack to 2020...?-Please heed warnings and tags and end notes etc before reading.-Alright Bambinos, please read and enjoy!Kudos and Comments always greatly appreciated.
Relationships: Randolph Miller/Original Female Character
Series: Shield Wolf [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1978786
Comments: 33
Kudos: 2





	1. The Groupie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wherein Professor Randolph Miller acquires a groupie.

"It's no use Viv, it's got me beat!"

"Well there's a first time for everything, eh Miller?" Inspector Deering chuckled at his frustration. "I'll get on the phone to the techies, see if they've got anyone left that you haven't annoyed, that they can send," she smiled at him and went off to her office.

Miller went back to tapping away despondently at the laptop. _Bloody thing!_ He'd tried everything he knew, which he admitted was a damn lot! _Ah, hubris is a horrendous thing_ he thought!

-

The next day, he looked up from behind the still annoying bloody laptop where he was sat, tucked away in a quiet corner of the large open plan office. He'd heard a commotion going on from the main part of the office where most of the officers sat. He craned his neck upwards to try and espy what all the fuss was about.

 _Huh...!_ All the young bucks were crowded round a poor young woman who'd stupidly wandered into the office. _Probably lost_ he thought. _Pretty though_ , he looked her up and down and smiled. Not the usual type for the station. Tidier, no lycra or bright flashy colours. A black trouser suit, shorts he corrected himself, and dark tights with big, black boots and long dark hair. _Looks like a cross between a corporate lawyer and a goth_ he thought, smirking to himself.

"I'm looking for Professor Miller?" she asked.

 _Hah! She's mine, hands off lads_ , he thought. He stood up and waved.

"Over here, love!" he shouted out.

She smiled and walked quickly over to him, happy to escape from her impromptu entourage.

"Professor Miller?" she asked.

"The one and only, in the flesh. At your service mademoiselle," he answered with a flamboyant bow.

She covered a giggle by holding a hand over her mouth, then held up her name badge dangling from the lanyard round her neck.

"Beatrice McClusky. From the I.T. department. But most people just call be Bea," she shrugged. "I was sent here to help you with a laptop...?" she asked.

"Ah yes! You must be the techie Viv sent for from IT!" he exclaimed happily. "Are you new...?" he asked, leaning towards her, grinning and raising an eyebrow.

"Oh.. Yes...? Er... I just started a couple of weeks ago…" she said, backing away, slightly unsure of his meaning.

-

She had been warned about him by her colleagues, but had brushed that all aside as being them trying to scare her or play a trick on her as the newbie. She found herself staring at his photo on the work website. His blue-grey eyes stared back at her, begging her to find out more about him.

She'd went on to Google him, to see if she could find out what all the fuss was about. Nothing she'd found seemed scary to her. All she saw was an extremely intellectual and thoroughly intriguing man. She'd been so wrapped up in reading about him that she'd not realised the time until her teammates had shouted goodbye to her as they were leaving for the evening. 

-

"Ah, fresh meat!" he chuckled, rubbing his hands together and smirking at her.

"Er... the um... laptop...?" she asked, fiddling with her name badge.

"Ah! Yes! This is the buggering thing that's wanting a good seeing to," he laughed and pointed at the laptop on the desk where he had been sitting. "Please sit and make yourself comfy, it's probably going to be a long ride," he winked and motioned for her to sit where he'd been sitting just now.

She smiled and sat, plopping her bag on the floor and taking her suit jacket off. She went to drape it on the back of her chair, but he took it from her and hung it on a coat stand nearby next to, what she assumed, was his coat. He grabbed another chair and sat close, next to her in front of said machine.

"The ticket said that it needed 'broken into' to retrieve some hidden data?" she inquired.

"Yes! That's correct. We're after some bigwig with links to the far right, but we've nothing to pin him down. Yet... This fucker," he pointed at the laptop, "was confiscated from his home. But so far it's not given up any of his filthy little secrets," he sighed.

"Did you try any 'brute force' or 'cracking' tools?" she asked, pausing but not looking up from the keyboard she was tapping on.

"I tried all the usuals, but no luck," he answered, frowning.

She paused, chewing her lip, thinking. "Nonce code?" she turned to look at him.

"Yes, most probably. I've not been able to crack it though. Whatever I've got only partially worked. It kept kicking me out," he frowned.

She tilted her head to the side, tapping her chin with a finger, then smiled and leaned down to dig around in her bag.

"Are you ok down there?" he asked. "I mean, I know what you ladies are like with your bags... Don't want you to get sucked away..." 

She giggled and looked up to find him grinning down at her. "Don't worry, I'll be sure to grab hold of you, Sir, so we can both be sucked off together..."

"Ha!" he slapped the desk, laughing.

"Ah! Here it is!" she sat back up, finally producing a usb from the dark depths of her bag. 

"From what you've said, it looks like it's a nonce encryption routed through the darkweb via a tricky little sub routine to generate the number. Now on here," she brandished the usb, "is a little something I wrote myself," she leaned closer to him, "not strictly legal," she whispered. "It's based off a little something I found a few years ago," she added quietly.

"But using it'll mean we can get around that code?" Miller asked.

"Yes! As it'll completely bypass everything," she continued.

"Meaning we can go right in like Flynn!" Miller added, causing her to giggle.

"Without the need for the original code generator!" They both exclaimed at the same time.

She beamed over at him and typed faster.

"Oh, don't forget about the VPN for the WiFi here, you'll maybe need to disable it?" Miller pointed at the screen.

"Oh yes! Thank you!" she smiled up at him, then returned her attention back to her typing.

They were in!

"Yes!" Miller exclaimed. He stood up, Bea peered upwards at him as he looked this way and that for someone. "Viv!!" he shouted.

Inspector Deering looked up from where she was stood speaking to one of her colleagues, and came over to see what her friend Prof Miller wanted.

"Well? You look like the cat who's got the whole cow full of cream Miller! Have you cracked it?"

"On its way to being so! Thanks to Miss McClusky here and her circumvention of the nonce code," he pointed at her and she lifted a hand in greeting.

"Techie?" Bea nodded. "New?" Bea nodded again and didn't miss the smirks that passed between Prof Miller and the Inspector.

"Er... Nonce?" Inspector Deering asked.

"Go scrub your filthy mind Ma'am! It's not what you think!" he winked at Bea who hid another smirk behind her hand.

"Number and once," Bea and Miller answered simultaneously. Both turning and smiling at each other as they did so.

"Nonce, in this particular setting, means 'a number only used once.'" Bea said.

"It's a string of numbers generated by a system to identify a user for a one-time-use session or specific task. After that session, or a set period of time, the number isn't used again." Miller added.

"So... _nerds_... Tell me what you've got then!" Inspector Deering asked.

"Well, it looks like there's a load of accounts here, mostly off-shore. All in crypto currency and hidden through the intricacies of the murkier parts of the dark web," Miller said.

"Anything incriminating?" Viv asked.

"Not yet, Ma'am. It'll take a while to dig through it all, there's tons of chat room stuff and emails and uploads here too. Looks like there's a large file of photos too. It'll take a while to completely dox him, but it's theoretically do-able," Bea said.

"I'll need you Miller, and your groupie here to get anything with links to either the money or the dead kids. By yesterday," she added.

"Yes Ma'am," Bea replied.

"Remember, that machine doesn't leave this room," she shouted back over her shoulder as she walked back towards her office.

"Come on then groupie, best get cracking eh?" he smiled happily at her and they both turned their heads back towards the laptop screen and begun...


	2. Wordsmith

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A 'Wordsmith' is someone who can skillfully navigate their chosen language, baffling, amazing and confounding in equal measures. It may also include excessive uses of double entendres. An interesting conversation is always a sexy thing - the brain is the sexiest organ in the human body after all...

Bea really could not comprehend all the fuss around Professor Randolph Miller, head of the station's Science Department. She'd been warned by several colleagues soon after she'd started, about him, to avoid him at all costs! She was warned of his flamboyant and eccentric ways, his mood swings and that he was usually either drunk or hungover or both. She was also told to beware his quick, scything and gutter level wit, and that he'd not suffer fools gladly. _Surely he couldn't be that bad, could he?_

After her first few days of working in the IT department, and all the dire warnings, she'd done a more in-depth internet search than the quicker skim she'd done earlier on her first day there. She was now even more puzzled. She had found only a brilliant scientist and polymath with qualifications longer than both her arms and legs, which, she admitted, weren't actually that long. She dug further, probably past where she really ought to be looking, and found out some more personal information about him. He was divorced a few years ago. So the drinking was probably as to be expected, especially if it went the same way as her parents one did. She felt a deep twinge of sorrow for him, she'd seen how quickly her father had spiralled downwards, and she really wouldn't wish anyone to tread that path.

Everyone had flinched when her department received the call from upstairs and his name was mentioned.

So, when she actually volunteered to take the work ticket, well, that had got her several pitying looks and shakes of heads as if she were going off to be executed, never to be seen again.

Now, actually having met the man, she didn't see what all the fuss was about! _Maybe they were all jealous of his skills?_ she thought. He knew loads about loads, which was extremely refreshing. Most of the team downstairs couldn't code themselves out of a 'hello, world' routine, using Scratch! They were correct about one thing though, his humour was lower than the most lowest of gutters. She smiled to herself. _He was perfect!_

Now she was happily tapping away, lost in the work that was her forte. Prof Miller was sitting next to her, aiding and abetting. He'd pointed out things that he needed and wanted her to document, happily helping her, the both of them combining their skills to proceed much quicker than if it was just the one of them.

She'd noticed he'd snuck a few, what he probably thought were, sneaky looks down her top. Well, it wasn't exactly revealing, but not exactly saintly. She could understand how what he did would upset others though. _Was that what they were scared of?_ she thought. But it was water off a duck's back to her, being used to the casual misogyny of working in a mostly male dominated environment. A quick sneaky look down her top was nothing compared to what she'd had to put up with in the past. He sat closely, yes, but he most definitely kept his hands to himself.

His forte seemed to be the skillful use of language, including excessive uses of double entendres. She could fence him back happily in that field. But he was definitely the master Wordsmith here. She found it absolutely brilliant having someone who actually understood what she was saying and could answer in kind, instead of just offering her a blank, blinking look as if _she_ were the complete moron here. An interesting conversation was a very sexy thing to her way of thinking.

He'd taken a few phone calls while she worked.

"Do you need to be getting on with work elsewhere, Sir?" she'd politely asked, "I can come back later if you're busy?"

But he'd waved her question away, shaking his head and telling her "No, no! That's what I've got minions for! This stuff is much more pressing, and the company much more interesting!" he had smiled at her and motioned for her to continue. She felt her face heat at his last comment. _What were those morons downstairs on about, he is so very polite!_ she thought.

-

"Miller, we're off to the pub, you coming?" one of the officers shouted over, "you can bring your new groupie if you want?" This was followed by much laughter, tittering and lewd comments.

Bea felt her face heat again and kept her head down, concentrating on the laptop's screen. She heard Prof Miller tut. She peered sideways as he frowned at her, then raised his head up towards the officers who had shouted at him. "Oh very hilarious, you bunch of clowns! We'll be down in a bit, just finishing off here. Oh and finishing off the laptop as well," he shouted back, turning back to her and smiling at her. His last sentence was met by more laughter and suggestive comments.

He leant in towards her. "Don't worry about those idiots. They're just jealous," he whispered, "they've been wanting to be my groupies for years!" he winked.

They carried on for a couple of hours after the others had filtered out. He'd finally called a halt to their work when it was half past six and they'd reached a point where they could happily pause.

"Best save everything, and carry on tomorrow. I'm absolutely gasping!" he announced. "Oh and hide that usb," he leant in towards her, "I promise I won't tell, but only if you make a copy for me so I can add it to my collection of illegal things for big boys!" he whispered to her.

He stood and stretched, cracking his fingers as he intertwined them and stretched them above his head. Laughing at her as she hid her giggles behind a hand.

"Hey! You try not creaking when you're my age!" He looked at her with mock indignation. "But don't worry, _all_ of me is still in full working order," he winked, leaving her to giggle as she tidied up and switched the laptop off. _Was it his suggestive comments that worried the others?_ she thought. He went over and grabbed his coat, "Come on then!" he shouted over and held her jacket out towards her.

She had paused, standing at the desk, nibbling her bottom lip. Pubs weren't really her scene, she didn't even drink much, it not being her thing… But she wanted to fit in… He frowned at her, shaking her jacket. Decision made, she locked the laptop in the desk, as he told her to, and handed him the key. She smiled at him and took her jacket, grabbed her bag, then followed him through the office. _Honestly, I don't understand all the fuss! Prof Randolph Miller is nothing to be scared of at all!_ she thought as he held the office door open for her like a proper gentleman. _He also has the most wonderful smile_ she noted as he let go of the door and placed a hand on the small of her back, ushering her out and down the stairs.

-

The pub was loud and noisy, she hesitated in the doorway. _Maybe this was a mistake after all?_ Prof Miller noticed her hesitation, and again placed his hand on her back, offering her a smile and ushered her to the bar. He ordered himself a pint, then turned to frown down at her, looking expectantly at her, "Well groupie, what's your poison?"

"Oh er… A shandy?"

He chuckled, muttering 'lightweight' and placed her order, then took their drinks, heading over to an empty table.

"So," he said "you being new _probably_ means they've not warned you about me yet eh?" he took a sip of his pint as he walked, peering across at her. "My excellent reputation not having proceeded me to you yet?" He placed their drinks on the free table, then his coat and tie all came off and got bundled into a messy pile and placed on the back of his chair. He sat and started on his pint, he looked at her, grinning and raising an eyebrow, waiting for her answer.

"Oh erm... they did... Warn me already that is," she answered, taking off her suit jacket and placing it neatly onto the back of her chair, then taking a sip of her drink.

"Ha! And you still came?" he frowned. "Interesting!" he said. "Tell me more!" he leant towards her, sending her one of his lovely smiles.

"Actually... I deliberately volunteered," she admitted, looking down at her hands as they twisted and turned her glass around.

Her answer caused him to laugh loudly and bang the table with his hand, which garnered a slew of puzzled looks from those nearby.

"Was there a particular reason for you wanting to add your broken and wrecked, empty husk to the pile of gibbering so-called 'technology experts'," he said the last bit accompanied by finger air quote marks, "I leave bobbing in my wake?" he finished.

"Two actually. I was bored, and I Googled you and you seemed interesting," she said honestly, as she shrugged.

This caused him to choke on a mouthful of his drink.

"Bloody hell! You ARE a groupie!" he hooted. He paused and squinted at her. "I seemed interesting? Really?" she nodded, causing his lovely smile to return. "Please do elaborate! My sorry ego is in dire need of a good stroking my dear, along with other things," he winked.

She giggled. And proceeded to list out his myriad of qualifications back to him along with the top few famous cases he'd helped to crack that she remembered.

"Ha!" he shook his head happily. "Another drink groupie?" he lifted his empty glass. She nodded but got up before he could.

"My round, Sir," she said, "same again?"

"Oh yes, pint of 'Boddies' and a whiskey chaser this time please," he said.

At the bar Inspector Deering sidled up to her.

"Be gentle with him will you, he's too valuable to get messed up even more than he already is, the randy old goat!"

"What? Oh. No, Ma'am! It's nothing like that! Er..."

"It might not be for you. Yet... But I'm just giving you fair warning, dear. We don't want any upsets. He may act the fool but he's a delicate flower underneath all that bravado and bluster! Plus he's the best we've got! So, just let him down gently before he gets carried away. Literally, the way he drinks!" she sighed.

Bea ordered the drinks, deliberately forgetting the whiskey, after what Inspector Deering said and from sorrowful memories of dealing with her father.

 _What am I getting myself into here?_ she thought. _Was this what they were trying to warn me against?_ She frowned to herself, not seeing any harm. _I'm happily chatting away with a man 15 years my senior with probable hang ups and other issues from what the inspector was hinting at. Was it flirting? Did their verbal to and fro count as that?_ She was in half a mind to make an excuse and flee out of the pub now. But, the other half of her had to admit, he WAS interesting to talk to, and she might actually learn something new. She mentally shrugged, _Nothing to really worry about in any of that, I've my own collection of hang-ups after all... I mean, who doesn't? And they were just innocently chatting. Weren't they?_ She collected their drinks, turned and headed back to their table. She sighed as she neared, noticing that her seat, along with the rest at their table, were now taken up by others.

"Ah, my refreshments!" he'd noticed her approach and waved her onwards, towards him. "Come hither groupie and meet the rabble!" She placed his pint down in front of him. "No whiskey?" he frowned up at her.

"Oh, sorry, I forgot, I'll get one next round," she smiled widely, expecting a grumble, but just receiving another of his lovely smiles back instead.

"Come on, shift yourself Tegan, let my groupie sit!" he shooed one of the officers away from the chair next to him. The person he'd addressed, promptly went and sat on a male officer's lap. Miller patted the vacant seat and grinned up at her. She gingerly sat down and sipped at her half pint of shandy.

"So, how long have you been working in the nerd department?" another officer asked her.

She sighed. _Nerds! Honestly can they not think of a new word?_ she thought. _So unoriginal!_ "I've been working in the information technology and asset support department for four weeks now," she answered, noticing the sniggers and nudges at 'asset support'. _Children!_

"You ignore the Philistines here," Prof Miller interjected, waving his hand broadly around to indicate all the others sat with them.

"And you weren't warned about Miller here before taking the job?" another asked.

"Oh, that's the best bit," he answered for her, "She _was_ warned about me but _volunteered! Deliberately!_ " Miller added, smiling and leaning back in his chair, preening proudly.

"What? Why would you do that?" Tegan chuckled, turning to her.

"Because I'm 'Interesting' obviously! You bunch of uneducated imbeciles!" Miller answered, winking at her, causing her to giggle. _He wasn't wrong about that_ , she thought. _He is interesting. To me anyway._ She frowned at how now even his colleagues were trying to warn her about him. 

Bea bit her bottom lip and took a sip of her shandy. _Not much Dutch Courage in there, but it'd have to do…_

"Professor Miller seemed like an intelligent man, who could help me expand my knowledge and studies with the help of his education," she said honestly. This was met with lots of laughter and dirty comments around the sort of education she'd be receiving at the Professor's hands. Miller himself, smiled at her, hiding a chuckle by taking a drink

She sighed. It was just like being back at uni while doing her graduate degree, sitting with her best friend who was always dragging her out with her rugby boyfriend's team mates. _Bunch of neanderthals._ Having sussed the level of this audience's humour, gutter level, she set her face to neutral, and continued.

"Professor Miller here is well known for his excellent hands-on work and has been noted for being superbly skilled with all equipment in his primary field of speciality,"

This was met with whoops of laughter. She took another sip, looking over at Miller who winked at her. Her emotionless look slipped at that and she smirked. He knew what she was up to and seemed to approve. She set her face back to dead-pan and continued.

"He's also extremely renowned in certain circles for his extra curricular activities," another sip, "including his special skills in certain other areas of interest to himself, outside of his expected remit." _That ought to do it_ , she thought. Miller clapped her. He leant in towards her, moving his lips close to her ear. "Bravo! Well done, love!" he whispered to her. She held her breath as his words tickled her ear.

The other's were falling about in hoots of hilarity and laughter. _Toddlers_ , she thought as she watched them over the rim of her sipped drink.

"She googled me," Miller added, shaking his head. "I feel so _dirty_!" he frowned with faked indignation. "All that was on my dating profile by the way, in case anyone was interested," Prof Miller added a comical wink at the end of his revelation. That was met with more laughter. He pointedly looked towards her, raising an eyebrow and offering her another of his most lovely smiles. _Oh! Maybe this was what I was being warned of?_ she gulped, feeling her face heat up at his lovely smile.

"So, not being bothered, myself, with the whole Google malarkey. From your accent, you not be from round 'ere," Miller asked, the last bit in a mock west country accent.

"Er, no. I was at uni for the past few years down south, doing a PhD in computing and counter cyber technology, before that a graduate and Masters computing and coding degrees." she took another sip of her shandy, returning his smile with one of hers.

"And after all that, you ended up here in the arse end of the butthole of nowhere, telling idiots like these here to just 'switch it off and on again' all day?" Miller asked, frowning at her.

"Yea… I may have limited my job opportunities because I found that there _may_ have been a slight issue with the university computer security system, with it _maybe_ not being up to scratch." she took another sip of her shandy. _Understatement of the year_ she thought.

"Well... Welcome to the team!" Miller said happily, holding his hand out towards her. She took it, finding his large hand grip hers confidently. Maybe she held onto both his hand and his eyes for a beat too long, but with the way that he was smiling at her so beautifully, she didn't really care. Laughs, welcomes and pat's on her back from the others pulled her away from his grip.

 _Well_ , she thought, _that went better than expected._ She took another sip of her drink and peered at Prof Miller, he was looking directly at her, a thoughtful expression on his face. His eyes twinkling and his smile was soft and welcoming. She met his eyes with hers, renewing their earlier connection. _Yes, this is probably what they were all warning me of..._ Any of her further musings were shooed away by Inspector Deering arriving. Her gaze snapped away from Miller towards their boss.

"Right, off you lot go, I need a word with these two." Inspector Deering indicated at her and Prof Miller. "Go on, off you pop," she shooed the rest away and sat down next to Miller.

She looked at him. "She know what she's about enough to get the job done?"

"Yes. I'll have to defer to greater knowledge than mine for once Viv," he said, "I hope this doesn't mean a paycut for me?" he added.

She chuckled. "You're all good Miller, for now," she smiled and turned to Bea. "You ok working with this lot?" Bea nodded, "Good. You're officially seconded to our team as of now. I'll speak to your boss first thing tomorrow, and get any paperwork sorted. You report directly to Miller here, if he's not around, you come find me. Savvy?"

Bea nodded again. "Yes, Ma'am."

"Welcome to the team. Another round?"

"Yes please Viv, you don't have to ask me twice!" Miller said.

"I'll go," Bea said quickly, "what are you drinking Ma'am?"

"Double vodka. Here," she handed over a £20 note. "Take your time, I need a bit of a quiet word with Miller," Bea nodded.

She took the opportunity to go to the loo, bumping into one of the other female officers while washing her hands.

"Hi, I'm Tegan, we didn't really introduce ourselves properly earlier," she said to Bea.

"Beatrice. Bea for short," Bea offered.

"Soooo, you and Miller then, eh?" she nudged Bea with her elbow.

Bea blinked. _What?_

"So no denial. Hmm... interesting. You don't think he's a bit, well... _weird_?" she asked.

"No more so than the rest of us nerds," she shrugged. Which was true.

"True enough. Well, good luck eh?" Tegan winked and left Bea to her thoughts.

She washed her hands slowly, standing straight and peering at herself in the mirror. Now that she'd actually met him, and spent time with him in person, she dismissed all the warnings as utterly ridiculous and born out of completely misunderstanding his personality. She now knew that Prof Miller was most definitely eccentric, that probably put people off as just him being weird, as Tegan had just accused him of being. But he seemed ok to her, she'd been accused of similar herself before. He was enthusiastic in his work, throwing his everything into it. He was an extrovert, loving to lead a conversation. She was the opposite, introverted and shy, but his bubbly joviality pulled her along, dragging her out of herself. I mean, here she was, in a pub! He was handsome, in a scruffy, overworked, mad professor sort of way. Which, in all fairness, he was. Oh and he did have a beautiful, utterly mischievous smile.

She giggled to herself at that last thought and went back to place her order at the bar. She had to resort to having to wave a bit to get noticed, being a 'short-arse' as Miller had put it earlier. He had chuckled as the top of her head only just reached his shoulders. She checked over her shoulder at their table, and brought the drinks over as Inspector Deering waved at her that they were done talking.

"Oh, you owe me another whiskey," Miller tutted.

"Sorry, Sir. I forgot again. I'll get you one next time," she beamed at him. He shrugged and took a long drink of his pint.

Bea didn't miss Inspector Deering's smile at her.

"Ok, get her up to speed with the case Miller, I'm off for a bit of karaoke," she said as she got up and left the two of them alone at the table again.

Miller looked a bit crestfallen for some reason. "You ok, Sir?" she asked quietly. She had only known him less than a day, but she already felt an empathy for him, wanting to pull him out of any sadness he might be feeling. "Did you get a telling off from the boss?" Bea asked him kindly, placing a hand gently upon his arm.

"Oh, no. Not really. Well, maybe a bit... But nothing for you to worry about. Now then," his lovely smile returned. "Best get your pad and pen out as you may want to take notes, this case has more twisty turns than the Saint Bernard pass," he rubbed his hands.

He was right. It _was_ twisty, but very interesting though. She thought that she would really enjoy working here, with this seconment. The work was all new and exciting. And the company was nothing to be sniffed at either. She peered up at Prof Miller, watching the way his face and hands moved around, adding so much to his spoken words. His hands especially were extremely expressive. She found herself noting how long and delicate his fingers were.

She'd been enjoying his company and conversation so much, that she didn't realise how late it was until last orders were called.

"How're you getting back?" Miller asked, "a cab?" Bea nodded. "Where do you live?" he asked, frowning, "not all the natives are as friendly as this lot in here."

"Ritter Street, just the other side of town, near the train station?" she answered.

"Oh, that's just three streets over from me!" he exclaimed. "Cab share?" he asked. Bea nodded. "Drink up then, let's away before the rabble steal all the good cabs and we're left with the shitty, vom filled ones. Not that I've a lot left to down, with no whiskeys," he said with mock sad puppy eyes, causing her to giggle.

She put her suit jacket back on and he gathered his things and ushered her out, placing a hand on the small of her back while holding the door open for her. She smiled. _The perfect gentleman_ she thought.

He whistled for a cab and they got in. He made sure that she was dropped off first. They parted with a cheery 'see you tomorrow' from him and a shy wave from her.


	3. Rumors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Come into my parlour said the spider to the fly.   
> (Featuring a BIG pineapple.)

They had exchanged mobile numbers yesterday, so that she could update him on anything when he wasn't around, like today.

He'd already sent her a message this morning:

'Good morning, o groupie mine. I'm over at the mortuary today. Try not to break anything in my absence. If you need me, ask Viv for directions over here. And let me know if anyone gives you any trouble. I'll sort them out personally if they do! ;0)'.

She'd stared at her phone for a good five minutes before plucking up enough courage to reply, and another five minutes to actually decide on _what_ to reply. She'd chose on something neutral:

'Good morning, Sir. I'll text you if I find anything. And no one's pestered me so far :0)'.

God! She felt like an idiot teenager texting a crush. _Is that what he was then?_ she thought to herself. _Don't be daft!_ she admonished herself _You've only known the man for a day!_ Yes, that was true, but he'd already wormed himself into her emotions in that short time, especially with that darned charming smile of his! She sighed and mentally shook herself. 

Inspector Deering coughing next to her broke her free of her musings, as she worked and thought, sat in her corner, debating on what to do about both the laptop and the Professor. Well, it was really what Bea thought of as _their_ corner. Her and Miller's. Even if he wasn't there, like today.

"So… You and Miller were seen leaving the pub together in a taxi last night. Should I be worried about anything?" Inspector Deering asked her.

"Oh! No! Nothing like _that_ happened, Ma'am. We just shared a cab. Him to his and me to my flat. He's in the same area of town as me. Just money saving," she said, shaking her head, "Nothing else," she added just to get the point across.

Inspector Deering smiled. "It was also noted that he didn't get steaming drunk last night. Which is unusual for him," she added, tilting her head to the side.

"Oh. We were busy talking, about the case, so not many rounds. Oh and I made sure there were no whiskey chasers for him," Bea admitted.

"Good. Well done... er... Beatrice is it...?" Bea nodded. "Keep up the good work," Inspector Deering smiled. "Make sure you run everything through Miller or me first," she pointed at the laptop. Bea nodded again. Inspector Deering nodded, satisfied with Bea's answers and walked off.

-

Bea carried on working away, nothing of import or any disturbances to warrant texting Miller again. She wasn't entirely sure if this was a good or a bad thing... Her only interactions with others being the occasional 'hello groupie' called out to her as others entered or exited.

She found her way down to the canteen at lunchtime, wolfing her lunch alone, and then exiting the station for a ten minute walk in the fresh air, before returning to that corner of the office again.

Back in _their_ corner, she frowned at the laptop screen. She'd found something interesting. _A possible link. Maybe?_ She looked round. No Inspector Deering to be seen. She went over and asked where she could find her and was told that she was out at a meeting, not expected back for a good few hours yet.

What she'd found couldn't wait that long. She went back to her desk and made a decision. She called Miller.

"Hello Professor Miller, it's Bea."

"Hello groupie! Is something wrong?"

"No nothing's wrong, Sir. But Inspector Deering isn't here, and I may have found something, but I'd like to check it with you first, before I go any further. If that's ok? And if you aren't too busy of course?"

"Oh no, I'm not too far up to my elbows in body bits that I can't spare you some time. I'll text you the address of the mortuary. Just jump in a cab, it's only fifteen minutes away. Ok?"

"Yes, Sir." her phone beeped. "Your text with the address just arrived," she told him.

"Good! See you soon groupie!" 

"Ok. Bye, Sir."

She hung up, locked the laptop away, gathered her notepad, stuffing it into her bag, grabbed her jacket and headed out.

She was directed to room 3b when she asked at the mortuary reception. She finally found the correct room after getting lost three times. The place was even more of a rabbit warren than the police station. "Professor Miller?" she called out as she knocked on the door.

"Yes! Come in, I'm a bit in the middle of something to come to the door at the moment," was his shouted reply.

She made the mistake of going in... "Oh God!" she exclaimed, not being prepared for the sight of him peering at some poor souls innards which he was holding aloft. She promptly turned white and threw up in the corner.

"Minions! Take over here please! Come on, come on! And there's a clean up to be done over there," Miller shouted. He took his gloves and apron off, stuffing them in a yellow bin as he ran over to her. He kicked his clogs off into the corner and swiftly ushered her out and into a side room.

"Sorry," she mumbled sadly.

"No need for that. Come on groupie," he sat her down. "Wait here please, I won't be long," he handed her the box of tissues from the table and promptly went back outside.

He returned a few minutes later, back in civvies instead of scrubs. He offered her a bottle of water which he'd purchased from the vending machine outside.

"Sorry about that. The idiots at reception shouldn't have sent you through. They should've told you to wait there and fetched me instead. Not everyone has the constitution for that side of the work," he frowned. "They'll be getting a slapped wrist and a smacked bottom from me for that," he smiled at her lopsidedly.

"I sort of should have guessed," she said, "the clue being in big letters on the front of the building," she continued. "You know... Mortuary... Dead bodies..." she smiled up at him.

"So…?" he chuckled.

"Oh. Yes! Right!" She fished around in her bag. "I found something interesting, maybe? I need you to look at it first though, to see if I'm heading the right way, or just wasting time going off down a dead end. I don't know the case we'll enough, so I need your help. Plus, Inspector Deering said to run anything i found through you first," she said pulling out a notepad and flicking through it. He sat down next to her. "So, this account there," she pointed at a number, "links to this one here, which in turn goes to here, which we can link directly to the suspect. The trick will be getting into his main account and linking everything backwards and directly to that." She frowned. "I may be able to get in via a backdoor program, but the ones I've got, they're tricky to keep stable."

"Aha!" he said, "I may just have what you're looking for already!" He stood, excitement pouring off him.

"Oh. Don't you need to get back to... Well to..." she waved her hand in the direction of the room she'd found him in.

"It can wait a few hours, it's not an urgent job. Come on, let's go!" he had already opened the door and was heading out. She shoved everything back into her bag and ran to catch up with him. She had to skip and jog to keep up with his lengthy strides as they left the mortuary and hailed a cab back to Friday Street. 

-

They de-camped to his office back at the station. It was down several stair cases and along some bland corridors. She was wrong, the station was the worse rabbit warren after all.

"Come into my parlour said the spider to the fly," he grinned as he unlocked a door and ushered her into his office.

It was a cluttered semi-mess of piled up paperwork and pieces of random electronic kit, hiding a desk maybe? There were several filing cabinets and shelves stuffed with books and lab equipment. He had a pottery phrenology bust sat on a side table, next to a stack of agar dishes. The large notice board the left was hidden behind numerous notes and even some DNA gel photos. His office was a truly eclectic collection of so many various things!

While waiting for his desktop to fire up, he rummaged through his desk drawer, pulling out several usbs and mumbling and muttering to himself. Eventually holding one aloft triumphantly to a cry of 'Eureka!'. He inserted it into his desktop, clicking through several files until he found the one he was after. He then pocketed the usb, ushered her back outside and up to their corner of the office.

"So… about last night…," he asked while they walked up the stairs. "Did you get ribbed about it too?"

"Um... There were some insinuations this morning," she said, not wanting to repeat the crude suggestions. "Because we were spotted leaving together," she added quietly.

"Yea. Same. But I put them straight," he grinned down at her.

"Oh?" she asked.

"Oh, yes! I told them that we went back to yours for a night-long shagging session in your sex dungeon, involving whips, chains, leather thongs, oh... and a pineapple. Until you wore me out and shoved me in a cab back to mine," he winked at her. She giggled and shook her head.

"Just the _one_ pineapple?" she asked.

"Yea, it was a really _big_ one though," he added, emphasising the size by holding his hands out widely.

"You owe me several whiskeys by the way," he looked pointedly at her, "don't think I didn't notice," he added.

"Oh...sorry... I kept forgetting about them. I'm not... Er... Very good at doing pub ordering... Too short...?" He snorted. "Not sure you needed them really, the way you were enjoying yourself, Sir. The way we were leading the others round in circles, all without them noticing," she said, smiling, nibbling her lip. "I've not had such fun since persuading the uni rugby team on the sexual performance enhancing benefits of a fish facial," she admitted quietly.

"Fish facial?" he frowned.

"Yes. Supposedly it's like a fish pedicure, but with your face instead," she shrugged.

"Ah, the drunken gullible are always so easily persuaded!" he chuckled.

"I must admit, it was pleasant not to have a pounding hangover this morning. So, thank you groupie," he smiled widely at her. "Maybe we could use a chip-off on that laptop as well, just in case?" he said, seamlessly switching subjects.

His swift gear change confused her for a second. She needed to mentally jog to keep up with him. His keen intelligence was certainly a breath of fresh, clean air to her. An extremely pleasant change from the dullness of the tech department. Back there, she had to slow herself down, often walking backwards to let them catch up to her. She hoped that she'd not be sent back _there_ for a while. She felt like she had so much to learn from Professor Randolph Miller.


	4. Friendship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Their friendship is deepening. A semi decent Chinese is visited. Crisp sandwich, anyone? (Cheese and onion are his favourite.)

Bea sighed. They had been here all day, going round and round in circles. Thinking that they were gaining ground, only to find themselves stuck in a dead end, having to backtrack their steps again. Then setting off running, chasing a new rabbit again, following it down to its lair, only to find yet another dead end, having to backtrack yet again. They were getting nowhere. Fast.

And now she couldn't stop her stomach from rumbling. Loudly...

They'd worked through lunch. She'd shared the sandwich and packet of crisps that she'd brought in from home with him to save them time. He'd pinned her with an odd look, then his eyes turned downwards as he fiddled with his half of the cheese sandwich, adding some crisps into it.

"I've not had a packed lunch like this since... Well since the early years of my marriage, that the wife made me, before it all turned sour, after my daughter was born," he explained quietly as he pressed the crisp laden sandwich down with his palm. Scrunching the crisps noisily. 

"Oh...," she watched as he picked up some escaped crisps and stuffed them back into their cheesy trap. "Um... I bet you never had cheese and crisp sandwiches though, in your packed lunch, Sir?" she tried.

"Ha! No! Not since I was a kid, back at school!" he smiled. "How did you know that my absolute favourite is cheese and onion crisps?"

"A lucky guess, Sir? I knew that they'd match your cheesy jokes?"

"Oh, very good groupie!" he chuckled. They ate and worked happily together, chatting and dropping crisps all over the place. _The cleaner will hate me_ she thought. _But it's worth it, as at least Miller is happier now after I stupidly reminded him of his past._

"Pass me that apple, please," he asked, pulling her from her thoughts as he held his hand out towards her. She plopped the round, red fruit into it.

He theatrically produced a pocket knife from his, well... pocket. Then proceeded to expertly cut her a thin slice, passing it to her as she tapped away at the laptop.

"Oh! Thank you, Sir!" she looked at it, marvelling at his knife work.

"Something wrong?" he asked. 

Her head snapped up from the apple, turning to look at him. He was grinning at her while he sliced another apple slither for himself.

"Er... No, Sir... Just... It's so... thin?" 

"Watch it, love, keep quiet, no need to put a man down like that!" he laughed.

"What? Oh! Silly!" she laughed. "The _apple_! It's so delicate, I mean, I'd have just lopped it into maybe four pieces?" she shrugged.

"Well, this is what you get after five years at medical school, and numerous years of extra study and my Professorship later," he held up another thin slice, plopping it into his mouth and chewing. "Eat up, love!" he winked, "I've another morsel for you to get your lips round and devour," he grinned as she ate her delicate piece of apple and he plopped the next piece into her held out hand. 

That lunch had kept them going for a while. But now, her stomach protested at its emptiness again.

"Sorry..." she said, smiling awkwardly over at him.

Miller, who was sat next to her, chuckled.

"There's an actually semi-decent Chinese round the corner from mine, which means round the corner from yours too. How about we give this a rest for the day and skedaddle there instead?" he suggested, tilting his head sideways, waiting for her answer. He sent her one of his delightful smiles.

 _God, does he know how that smile makes the hairs on the back of my neck tingle? I definitely can't refuse him when he smiles at me like that!_ she felt her face heat and had to tear her eyes away from him, looking back at the laptop screen again to gather her shredded thoughts together.

"Um... Yes... Er... a good idea, Sir. I need to run an idea past you for a possible get around for the missing data. I think we're definitely stuck at the moment, and need to think of a new strategy," she suggested, definitely not looking back up at his beautiful smile that she knew would be waiting there if she turned her face to look at him.

"Come! Let's away, groupie mine!" Decision made, he stood up swiftly and grabbed their coats and his bag.

"Oh, I just need to go to the ladies. I won't be long," she stood up quickly.

"Off you pop, I'll close and tidy up here while you do that," he smiled up at her, catching her eyes this time.

 _God!_ she fled to the ladies.

-

In the toilets, she pondered on their current status. She'd been working here, seconded for, what, two weeks now? They certainly weren't strangers any more, the closeness of their working relationship over the past fortnight had caused a definite friendship between them to bloom.

They'd often chatter away for ages, animated discussions about the pros and cons of various computing techniques or anything else of interest. Which was an extremely broad remit where Professor Miller was concerned.

 _The man was a walking Wikipedia_ she thought. His intelligence was an impressive tool that he keenly wielded in the duties of his work. He enjoyed regaling her with the most gruesome and disgusting stories from his mortuary work. Laughing at how she scrunched her nose up in disgust or looked at him in utter disbelief, then squinting at him, unsure if he was winding her up or not. He'd chuckle and tell her that it was all one hundred percent true. She shook her head, causing him to laugh loudly at her incredulity and innocence at the vast depths of human depravity.

If others were sitting nearby, they'd always slowly drift away as if the two of them were speaking in tongues. Leaving just her and Miller wrapped up together in their lively debate.

Their discussions were often mistook by others for flirting. _Maybe they were?_ she thought. The others certainly teased her mercilessly about it all. About how she was always blushing or giggling with him, at their silly, shared, childish, double entendre filled jokes. Miller did so relish being able to pull a blush or giggle from her, he did seem to love teasing her so. She dried her hands, smiling as she made her way back upstairs.

-

Meanwhile, as he switched the laptop off and tidied everything away, Miller found himself thinking on how he felt about his groupie, his new friend. Bea. He found that he really enjoyed pulling a blush or smile from her. One such, caused by himself, was a great prize to be treasured and cherished.

He'd not had anyone else in the team or at the mortuary to verbally spar with like this before, not like he could with her. To question and dissect, without him having to explain every single, damnable, tiny point, was such a great relief! He'd often get bored when someone couldn't keep up with him conversationally. His exasperation at this often led to arguments, or him having to resort to small, short sentences that missed out most of the more interesting nuances of the case or subject of discussion.

But Bea, although she sometimes had to have him explain the odd point, could happily keep up with him on most things. It was such a great thrill, to have another intelligent person around. All the other officers that he knew here wanted to talk about was what 'shaggery' they were up to, or boring bloody football! Viv, his oldest friend and colleague, was the nearest in intellect to him. But even she couldn't keep up with his conversation when his brain was speeding along. He unquestionably enjoyed having Bea around, and fervently hoped she wouldn't have to go back to the tech department any time soon. He made a mental note to speak to Viv about this.

But his favourite pastime at the moment was when they were trying to outcompete each other in double entendres. Dropping them into a conversation, and seeing if anyone else noticed. Each trying to keep as blank a face as possible, the loser being the first to giggle or snort in laughter at the others outrageousness. Childish, but delightful games to break up the deathly seriousness of the work.

-

"So, have you had any chance yet to savour the delights of Manchester yet?" he asked as they sat in the taxi, on their way to the restaurant.

She shook her head. "Not yet. Just what I've seen on the bus and train to and from work and home. The others in IT went clubbing most nights, but that's not really my thing. And I don't know anyone else here," she shrugged.

"Apart from me, of course!" he said and winked at her.

"Yes Sir, sorry, of course! Apart from yourself, that goes without saying," she smiled widely at him.

"Remind me to give you a guided tour of our delightful metropolis at some point," he said, "once we've both that rare thing called 'free time'," he added.

"Oh, and less of the 'Sir' please, we know each other well enough now for you to drop that. Plus, it makes me sound like some old git of a headmaster giving out detentions... or a punishment," he frowned. "Well, not unless you're into that sort of kinky stuff of course. If you are, then feel free to call me 'Sir' as often as you like," he waggled his eyebrows at her suggestively causing her to giggle, which made him smile happily.

"Miller is fine. Maybe if you're lucky, you'll be screaming my first name at some point," he added suggestively.

She nodded, blushing and biting her bottom lip. _He really was a terrible flirt_ , but she didn't care, she freely admitted to herself that she enjoyed his attention in that way a great deal. _I need to be careful_ she thought. _I could easily find myself falling for him if don't..._

She looked up at him now, sneaking a glance at him, taking him in. He was unconventional in everything, including his looks. Some would call him ordinary. But not her. She loved his grey hair. She was forever having to stop herself from reaching up to brush a stray lock back into place. And his beautiful, twinkling eyes, they were always up to something, figuring something out or just up to some sort of mischief. _Am i really falling for him? Was it really just innocent flirting that they were doing, or was there something more to it, like others suggested? What would she do if he actually made a serious pass towards her?_ She bit her bottom lip nervously considering the answers to all those questions.

"That's a 'tell' you know," he said, pulling her out of her musings.

"A what?" she asked.

"When you chew your bottom lip," he pointed out, "it means you're nervous." he added.

"Um…", she tried to answer but only succeeded in nibbling her bottom lip again.

He laughed out loud. "Oh groupie, you need to stop doing that." He leant in closer towards her, "It's incredibly sexy," he whispered. He leant back away again, a mischievous look in his gorgeous eyes. "On second thoughts, please carry on, but only around me please," he winked at her, laughing at her as she blushed prettily.

"Oh, here we are," he paid the cabbie and escorted her inside the restaurant.


	5. Lubrication

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The consequences of excessive lubrication. (More double entendres to spot.)

The bloody thing was stuck! Stuck fast. _Bloody shitting thing!_ She tried one last time.

"What's the matter, Bea?" Miller asked her curiously, watching her as she was leant forwards, swearing and struggling with something.

"Stupid jacket zip won't actually bloody zip!" she said, "And it's absolutely pissing it down outside," she sighed.

"Ah, the law of soddery in action," he chuckled.

"Here, let me look," he walked round to stand in front of her, he bent down to take a closer look at the misbehaving garment.

"The teeth are all out of alignment," he said, "I can try fixing it if you like?" He looked up at her, waiting for her answer.

"Um... Only if it's no trouble?" she answered, not wanting to distract him from his busy work.

"It's no problem," he smiled and stood up, "hang on, I'll be right back," he ran out, off to his messy, Aladdin's Cave of an office she guessed.

He was back within five minutes, brandishing some pliers and a can of wd40.

"A goodly application of lubrication always helps in most situations, I find!" he announced to everyone. This was met with some lewd comments.

She giggled. He plopped himself down in her chair, then motioned her over, gesturing with his hand for her to come closer. "Come here groupie, I need to oil you up," he grinned up at her. More lewd comments.

She stood in front of him and he sprayed some oil on a tissue then rubbed it on the metal teeth of the zip. He pulled. The zip stayed stubbornly stuck. He then grabbed his pliers and set about trying to straighten the zip teeth. She looked down. His face was dangerously close to her core. She shuffled her legs a bit, trying to squeeze her thighs together as her wayward brain led her to thoughts of them in this position, but naked. She closed her eyes tightly, trying to think boring thoughts instead.

"Stay still Bea or this may all go horribly wrong." he looked up at her, smiling up at her.

 _Oh! You're not helping by smiling like that_ she thought. She was blushing furiously, nibbling her lip. "Put your hands on my shoulders if you're a bit tired and wobbly, it's been a long day," he said. She did so. But maybe she shouldn't have, as it just made her blush worse, if that was at all possible.

He looked back down and continued with his task.

"Bloody thing just doesn't want to go in. It keeps slipping out of my grip," he announced loudly.

She giggled. Lewd comments and whistles following after.

"What?" he looked around her, up at the others who made up his impromptu audience, fake innocence on his face." You lot have absolutely disgusting minds!" 

He turned back to Bea, an impish look in his eyes. "Oh...! I may have overestimated the amount of lubrication needed for you," this was met by more guffaws from their observers. "Your moving around and giggling doesn't help, Bea! Keep still, or I'll lose my grip on you!" he winked up at her.

"Ok, ok, let's break up the 'Carry On up the Police Station' routine Miller. Get your face out of your groupie's fanny and get back to the job at hand," Inspector Deering interrupted.

This was met by more giggles and laughter from everyone watching and more nervous giggling from Bea. She was sure she'd ever blushed so much before in all her life!

A vision of him down there while they were naked, swam back up again. Planting itself firmly at the forefront of her mind. She needed to think boring, boring thoughts...

-

In the end, they'd left shortly after. She left her stupid jacket in the office. He'd draped his coat over both their heads as they ran out into the rain to hail a cab together to their favourite Chinese restaurant.

-

While sat in the restaurant, they happily discussed the days work, chatting away about where they thought their next move to unlock the data would be.

"I'll have another go at fixing your coat tomorrow," he announced.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that," she said. "You've got better things to do than worry about my silly old coat. I've others anyway," she explained.

"I'll not let it best me!" he answered. "No point arguing, I've made my mind up," he smiled at her. 

She knew that he'd not give up on anything so easily. He'd worry and pest and work away at all hours until his desired goal was achieved. He hated leaving anything half finished.

"Oh and another thing Bea," he added, catching her gaze as she looked up at him in query.

"Yes?" she asked.

"You do blush so very prettily," he added, smiling at her.

She blushed.

He laughed merrily, pointing at her face.

She laughed, not minding his laughter. _He'd called her pretty!_ She shook her head as she felt her face heat further at that thought. She giggled along with him. His laughter was truly infectious.


	6. Interruptions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An 'almost' kiss is interrupted...

"Hey, where's the fire!" Miller shouted at her, he held his hands out in front of himself to stop Bea's headlong rush down the same staircase that he was stood at the bottom of. She was rushing down them so fast, that she almost ran straight into him, not spotting him in her haste. She pulled herself up quickly, skidding to an abrupt halt in front of him. Having to grab hold of one of his arms to steady herself.

"Spilt tea," she motioned at her previously white shirt, now with a large brown blob spread across the front. "I'm just going to see if I can wash it out quickly before it stains," she explained.

"Now you know that's about as pointless as a bald hedgehog," he joked.

She sighed, "yea... But I had to try something..." she said, a sad, dejected look upon her face.

"Come on, follow me!" He motioned for her to trail after him, as he headed back down another staircase. 

"Er... are we going to your office?" she guessed, as they headed downwards. She knew that his office lay down in the bowels of the station, but she'd only been down there once before.

"What's down there?" she asked, "some miracle chemical from your lab?" she asked, hopefully.

"You'll see," he answered, throwing a smile back over his shoulder as she followed along after him.

They finally arrived outside a nondescript office door, they all looked the same in this old, decrepit building. He unlocked the door, motioning for her to enter. He closed the door behind himself, and went past where she was hovering in the middle of the floorspace.

She was uncertain what he was about, or what he wanted her to do. _I know what I'd love for him to do_ she admitted. She was fiddling with her hands, suddenly nervous and unsure here, alone with him in this, his space. Her heart knew _exactly_ what she wanted of him, but her head was holding her back. She still wasn't sure that he felt the same way as her, and she didn't want to risk being hurt, or hurting him in any way. She didn't want to ruin the friendship that they most definitely had. She didn't want to give him, or anyone, an excuse to send her away from him. She wasn't the sort of up-front person to out-right ask him. So she was left in this limbo of longing, without knowing.

He headed past her, smiling back at her as he walked straight over to a locker in the corner, which he opened and started rummaging through.

"I know I've one here somewhere. For when I work late and don't get a chance to get home for the night," he mumbled to himself. "Aha!" he said triumphantly. "One shirt, clean and ready to wear," he handed his prize over to her, smiling happily.

It was one of his dark grey ones. The colour matching his lovely eyes perfectly.

"Oh! thank you! You really do have everything in here. A proper Aladdin's cave," she said, beaming up at his cleverness.

"Well, there's no camels, or sand, but I try my best otherwise," he said. "It'll be a bit large of course, but better than trying to hide a stain all day, eh?" 

She nodded enthusiastically at him.

"Er, could you turn around please?" she asked as she took her jacket off and started undoing her blouse.

"Oh! Yes! Sorry!" He spun round on his heel. Positioning himself so that his small shaving mirror on the shelf of his locker gave him a lovely view of his equally lovely groupie.

 _You dirty old man_ he thought. He felt a tad guilty, but not enough to stop looking though. They'd been flirting terribly, it going up a notch recently. He'd still not touched her at all. Which _was_ odd for him, he thought. He was usually a fan of the 'shag em and leave em' school of thought, resorting to prostitutes if he needed to, to sate his needs. But he'd not wanted to do that with her. _Well, I definitely do with the shagging part_ he admitted. _But not the leaving bit._ He enjoyed their friendship too much for that. He was wary of muddying their friendship with sex. He valued her enough to not just jump in bed with her for one night of lust.

He admitted that he _did_ feel differently about her. He wasn't entirely sure yet what that _different_ was though. Or even if she felt anything beyond friendship for him. He was never any good at figuring out the female mind. He freely admitted that that was the one area of expertise that he was sorely lacking in. He was completely inexperienced when it came to emotional relationships. A novice when it came to asking a woman of anything more than a base query for sex. He could flirt, that came easily enough to him. But anything more than that, anything serious, and he was lost and scared. Females were a complete mystery to him.

He knew that she wasn't frightened off by him, which was certainly unusual. She'd not backed away from his silly, dirty sense of humour or shied away when he tried to see how far he could go with his terrible flirting with her, how far he could push their friendship without it becoming uncomfortable. In fact, she often actively encouraged him, egged him on. He enjoyed the 'to and fro' of that part of their friendship immensely. Their conversations invigorated him. He knew that most women would have either told him to just _fuck off_ , or dragged him to bed by now. But he could see that although she happily flirted, she was terribly inexperienced, as far as a physical relationship was concerned. Her nervous lip nibbling and blushing gave her away. He wondered just how inexperienced she was. _Surely she wasn't a virgin?_ he pondered. That thought went straight to his groin, exciting him at the thought of being her first. No, she'd mentioned previous boyfriends he remembered sadly.

From the gossip around her, that he actively listen to now, he knew that she wasn't taking part in the rampant shagging that always went on in this station. He'd himself not had a decent shag since… Well since she'd arrived into his life.

He really couldn't quite pin down what he felt for her. More than lust, but not yet love. _She probably didn't feel the same way anyway_ , he thought miserably. He wondered if she had anyone outside of the station that he didn't know about. The only gossip attached to her _inside_ the station, was linked to him, and she'd not actually mentioned anyone else herself. That cheered him up. He made a mental note to ask her if he had any competition.

He went back to surreptitiously watching her as she undid her blouse button by button, slowly exposing first a lovely white lacy bra covering a delicious pair of pert breasts. She took the top off and he got a good view of her petite body, naked down to her hips, exposing her belly, sides and back, not skinny and flat, but a normal womanly curvy body he thought. She put his shirt on, covering herself and he finally let out the breath he hadn't realised he was holding in.

She finished doing up the buttons and tucking his shirt into her trousers and announced he could turn around. He quickly closed his locker and spun round.

"Sleeves are a bit long," she waved her arms, the overlong sleeves flapped about which caused her to giggle. He chuckled.

"Come here my short-arsed overly silly groupie," he said, shaking his head at her.

He motioned for her to come closer and to pass him an arm, which she did. He rolled the sleeve up, exposing her small hand, which he then placed flat on his chest, to keep her arm still, as he carried on rolling till the roll was just under her elbow.

His chest was nice and warm, she thought. She could feel his heart beat. It was beating as fast as hers. She hoped that meant that he felt the same way that she did about him.

She was falling for him, she knew that much, but she wondered on how he felt about her. She looked up at him, at his handsome face smiling down as he worked in her sleeve. _That damn smile_ she thought. He was looking down, but concentrating on the sleeves, so he didn't notice her soft scrutiny of him. A lock of his hair had fallen forwards, out of place. She itched to reach out and smooth it back, to run her fingers through his lovely grey hair. He was all beardy today. She wanted to feel that as well, to run her fingers through his hairy face, cheeks and chin.

He looked down at her. She sucked her breath in sharply. He'd caught her looking at him. She could feel a blush creeping up her cheeks. A 'tell' as he'd called it.

They stared at each other. His grey-blue eyes connected deeply with her brown ones. They were caught in each others gaze.

"Er... next arm?" he asked, breaking the spell. His rolling and placing of her hand on him repeated with her left arm now. He finished and looked down at her, again catching her looking up at him. She nibbled her bottom lip.

"What have I told you about nibbling your lip groupie?" he asked quietly.

"Um… to not?" she said, "unless I'm around you," she added breathily, smiling shyly up at him.

"I think you missed a bit out," he said, "I'm sure I said more...," he added as he leant down towards her, bringing his face closer to hers.

Her hand was still placed on his chest. She clenched her fingers, gripping his shirt tightly. He leaned down further, both holding their breath.

A knock on his office door broke the spell, and they sprang apart.

"Yes!" Miller shouted sharply.

"Oh sorry sir, report for you to sign."

He took the folder held out to him, retrieved a pen from his pocket, signed it quickly then handed it back angrily.

He turned back towards Bea, smiling and holding his arm out towards the open door motioning for her to exit.

"Thank you," she whispered as she walked past him, "for the shirt," she lightly touched his arm as she went past and shot him her brightest of smiles.

"My pleasure," he said as she walked out, smiling at her.

They stopped halfway up the stairs to part ways, her to go back upstairs, and him to go out, back off to the mortuary.

She paused and turned when she got to the top, he was still standing there, where she'd left him, watching her.

A thoughtful expression was on his face.

She lifted a hand and waved, smiling at him.

He waved and smiled back, striding off towards the exit, whistling as he went.


	7. Jealousy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No one ogles at Prof Miller's groupie but him!

"What are you doing over there?" Miller shouted across the office. Bea jumped, she'd not heard him arrive back. He'd been out at a scene all day. _Oh!_ _He doesn't sound very happy, maybe it was a really bad one?_ she thought. She made a mental note to ask him about it later.

Bea turned around as he came up to where she was bent over the desk of one of the officers. 

"Um, I'm just helping with this excel sheet," she pointed at the spreadsheet she was looking at.

"Yea, while this lot of dirty bastards behind you helped themselves to an eyeful of your arse," he said angrily, turning his gaze onto the men lined up behind her.

"Come on, back over here please, or use a bloody chair," he said to her. "If anyone's going to ogle that lovely, little, pert, round arse of yours, it's going to be me, thank you very much!"

He turned to face the officers behind her. He folded his arms, glaring angrily at them some more until they shuffled, sheepily back to their seats.

He didn't really know why he was so damnable angry. _It's not like she's mine_ he thought. _I've nothing to be jealous about!_ But, when he'd caught them staring at her like that, he just flipped out. He couldn't stand to see anyone else look at her like that. He knew what he wanted. _Her._ But he was too scared to do anything about it. Too scared of being let down and hurt again. Still, it didn't mean that he couldn't still protect her any way he could. Yes, he was definitely angry with the lads for taking advantage of her. But, when he thought on it some more, he found that he was also angry with himself for not having the courage to outright ask her out. _Bloody stupid damn emotions_ he chided himself. _I need to just gather up my courage and ask her if she feels as I do_ he thought.

"Eyes off lads, she's _my_ groupie!" he added, then stomped over to their shared desk in the corner where the laptop they were working on sat.

She grabbed a chair, sat down and finished fixing the offending spreadsheet, showing the officer it belonged to, what she'd done to remedy the problem. Then she made her way back to where Miller sat. She could feel the anger pouring off of him in waves.

She sat down next to him, he was frowning while angrily tapping at the keyboard. She placed a hand on his arm.

"Sir? Um... I mean, Miller?"

He stilled and looked across at her, his brows were creased tightly and his mouth was downturned.

"Thank you," she said quietly, "I naively forget sometimes what a bunch of testosterone filled neanderthals that lot are. Thanks for rescuing me," she'd smiled at him.

"No problem, love," he smiled back, the angry tension left him, evaporating away along with his frown.

"Oh and thank you for saying I've a nice arse," she added in a whisper, blushing furiously as she spoke.

"Well, I seem to remember actually saying it was a lovely little, pert, round arse," he said quietly back at her, smiling at her.

She looked down and giggled. _That smile of his just melts me every time_ she thought. 

"You have a very silly giggle," he shook his head and smiled happily at her, back to his normal, merry self again.

"So… where are you with those photo files you were decoding?" he asked as she blushed profusely.


	8. Staying

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Joining the A team. Why would anyone in their right minds NOT want to stay with Prof Miller??

Miller finally returned to their corner from his long meeting with Inspector Deering. He walked over to where she was sitting and plopped himself into the chair next to her. He turned and smiled widely at her.

 _Oh!_ she thought. She was going to ask him how his meeting went, but his beautiful smile had scrambled her wits, and re-programmed her brain yet again, as it always did. The most she could manage was an idiotic smile at him as he spoke.

"Well I may very well have saved you from a fate worse than death, oh groupie mine," he said merrily.

"What…?" she stared at his beautiful face, lost in his eyes, mesmerised by his face, pulled onto the rocks by the siren like calling of his wonderous smile. God how she wanted to just grab him and kiss him. _I wonder how tickly his stubble will be?_ she found herself thinking. She reluctantly pulled herself back to reality and wondered what he'd done, asking a semi-coherent question. "Er... How...?"

"Well... I've turned your temporary secondment to this here little team into a permanent stay! Therefore you are no longer going back to slum it with the techies who don't actually know how to tech, and you get to stay and work with me. Permanently!" he announced triumphantly.

"Oh!" She smiled widely at him. _That WAS a fate worse than death, and to be able to stay here with him! Oh, that's the answer to my dreams!_ She laughed happily and placed a hand on his arm. "Thank you," she said quietly. "Thank you!" she said again and squeezed his arm gently.

"So celebratory drinks later then, eh?" he asked.

She nodded a reply. She was absolutely relieved at being able to stay here, to be allowed to stay close to _him_ and to be able to be the recipient of one of his dazzlingly perfect smiles for longer.

"Oh, I almost forgot," he exclaimed. "I'm to send you in to see Viv, Inspector Deering, as soon as I'm out of her office," he added, shaking his head.

She giggled, mouthing another 'thank you' to him as she walked away.

She walked briskly over to the Inspector's office and looked over at Miller before knocking, he was watching her intently and waved at her. _Did he really organise all this so that she could stay? Did he really want her, like she wanted him too? I mean we would have kissed, if we weren't interrupted in his office, wouldn't we? Or was this purely a work thing?_ She raised her hand and knocked on the door, waiting for the 'enter' from within.

"Come in," she heard and opened the door, closing it behind her, moving to stand in front of Inspector Deering's desk. She felt nervously out of place in here, standing in front of a high up officer. "Sit down please Beatrice, don't worry, it's not a telling off, the complete opposite in fact," she said, smiling up at Bea, sensing her nerves.

"This here," she brandished some paperwork, "is your employment contract. It records a change of duties from the tech dept to being a permanent member of my team," she said.

"Now before you sign your life away, just remember what you're signing up for. This isn't a nine to five job. You may see things no one should really see. You'll get shouted at, probably daily, and that's just by me."

"Miller himself has been on at me-non stop all week to push this through. He really wants you to stay. Says you'll be wasted going back to the tech lot. Well, actually he said you're probably wasted here, that you should be at Oxford or Cambridge, but that you'll be less wasted here than back downstairs. And that at least here you could do some good instead of becoming as he put it, quote, another licky Oxbridge twat, unquote."

Bea smiled and glanced back out of the office window at Miller, who was happily tinkering with the laptop, his back towards her. The Inspector, not missing anything, noted her look.

"There's no guarantee he won't slip again at some point, Miller," Inspector Deering said, pausing sadly. "But at least he's not drinking so much and he's getting help, he's on proper medication now," she added, smiling at these improvements to her friend.

"And," she paused and smiled, "I've not had to drag a drunken Miller out of a strip joint or rescue him from losing his wallet to two russian hookers in a while," she smirked at Bea's shocked look at that declaration, he'd obviously not told her about certain little snippets of his past _Whoops!_ Sorry _Miller_ she thought. "Or have I had recently to go give him a shoulder to cry on because he's fell into a depressive episode. In fact, he hasn't had one of those for at least one whole month now. Coincidentally, that is the same length of time that you've been part of this team," she added happily.

"He's the very best we've got but, he's also a close personal friend of mine. And I think you are growing to care for him too, yes?" she looked directly at Bea, who blushed. She was most definitely guilty of that last part, but she kept quiet, just shuffling in her seat and nodding.

"So, it'll be our job, yours and mine, to keep him like this," Deering added and pointed towards the paperwork. "None of that is written in that there contract. But that doesn't mean it's not what you'll be signing up for too. Understood?"

Bea nodded again, smiling up at her new boss.

"So, sign here, on the dotted line for more of the same," she handed her the paperwork, "or go back to as you were. The choice is yours."

Bea could feel her eyes filling with tears at the thought of Miller's improvement because of her. She'd not actually seen him in one of his lows yet, only having witnessed the happy go lucky, carefree man. She knew that she would, at some point, be witness to him in a sad, low, depressed phase. But she felt that she maybe knew him enough now to maybe help him somewhat. _I'd try my damned best for him anyway._ She promised herself. Even as a friend, if not as something more. Even though she desperately desired to be that 'something more' to him. 

She nodded and took the pen Deering was holding out. Signing on the line happily with no hesitation. It was a 'no brainer' of a choice really.

"Well done Bea. Welcome to the team. Again. Keep up the good work!"

"Thank you Ma'am," she said sniffing.

"Here," she held out a box of tissues, taking one herself, "you'll get me blubbing now you soft cow!" she laughed.

"Off you pop now, go annoy Miller by doing whizzy computer stuff better than he can."

Bea laughed. "Thank you Ma'am," she said, exiting the office, she walked slowly back to where Professor Miller still sat. Trying to take her time, to let her tears subside.

He looked up at her as she approached him. She caught his eyes as he watched her deliberately slow walk back towards him. He had a nervous look on his face, his brows creased and he was fidgeting with a pen, clicking it on and off.

She sat down next to him and placed her hand on his, stilling him from his clicking and held his gaze, sending a, hopefully, reassuring smile towards him.

"Thank you Professor Randolph Miller for stopping me from becoming another, um, licky Oxbridge twat, was it?" she giggled and sniffed, wiping her eyes with the tissue she still held. She squeezed his hand again where it still lay under hers.

"Also, thank you for being the first one to actually, properly believe in me," she sniffed.

"Did you sign?" he leant towards her and whispered.

"Of course! Why on earth wouldn't I?" she said.

"Well," he waved at himself with his free hand.

She sniffed. "You idiot! You're the main reason I _did_ sign." she admitted, laughing.

He turned his hand round under hers so they were palm to palm and he held her hand, squeezing it back gently. She looked down at their joined hands, her heart rate sped up. His hand felt so warm and comforting.

"Thank you groupie, for signing and staying," he said quietly. Then his nervous face melted away, chased away by one of his lovely, wide smiles.

"But not for calling me an idiot though. Now, that's just plain rude!" he chuckled and reached over with his free hand to swipe away a tear that was rolling down her cheek, his hand lingered there a little, brushing her cheek with his thumb. She caught his eyes and smiled back at him, wishing they were somewhere more private where she could capture the moment, capture his hand on her face and press her cheek into it.

She wanted to capture his lips with hers, to tell her much she felt for him. He leant forwards, moving closer to her, staring into her eyes, pinning her to the spot. Then he shook his head, breaking the spell. He coughed, and looked away, pulling his hands back, leaving her bereft of his touch.

He clapping his hands, rubbing them together.

"Right then, we've a laptop to crack on with! Then celebratory drinks at the pub for your promotion to the A team."


	9. Competition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Is 'Three legged man with antennas and hands for ears' a valid 'type'?

They were sat in their Chinese restaurant, the one they usually sequestered themselves away to after working late together in the office at Friday Street police station.

"So groupie, I'm wondering if I've any competition?" he asked, as he rubbed the back of his neck with a hand and avoided her eyes.

"Competition?" she said, wondering what he meant by that, "competition for what?" she asked.

"Well... for your... Um... You know... womanly affections?" he added, frowning.

He felt such an idiot. He was no good at this relationship stuff. He could do the sex bit all right, but it was all the emotional things that went around it that he was no good at. He felt like an absolute novice.

He'd never been good at reading women's intentions. All his qualifications, and he was still an absolute dunce as far as _that_ subject was concerned. But he needed to know, needed to find out if she felt as he did. He was almost certain that she did, especially after their _almost_ kiss in his office, and a few other close moments they'd shared, like after she'd signed to stay with him as part of the team. His heart melted when she'd admitted that he was the reason she signed on to stay.

He knew that their friendship had certainly changed into something _more_. Something that he'd been craving since... Well, since he'd met her if he was to be honest with himself. He felt that now was his chance, away from everyone at work. He desperately wanted to have her every which way he could think of. Her naked form had been plaguing his dreams at night and also during the day as of late. But, in addition to wanting to shag her senseless, he craved her company, her attention, her... _What?_ he thought. Well, he wanted her everything. He wanted to _be_ her everything. So he just decided to be done with it and to outright ask her. _The worst she could say was no right?_ he thought.

"Oh... Er...," was all she could say. She was absolutely flummoxed by his forthright asking of her. _Well what_ was _he asking her? Was he asking her out? Was_ that _what he meant?_ She frowned. _And what did he mean by 'competition'?_ She was totally confused. _Who could compare to the esteemed Prof Randolph Miller?_ she thought to herself. Not having the guts to say it out loud like she wanted to.

He chuckled, covering his nerves with laughter, he was unsure now, thrown by why she didn't answer him.

"Well...," he continued onwards, unable to turn back now he'd started down this path, "no ring, so obviously no marriage," he pointed to her hands, "so, boyfriend, girlfriend, one of each, two of each?" he asked, a strangely nervous look on his face, as he covered his nerves with humour, as usual.

"None," she said quietly. "Nothing for a while now. Bit of a dry spell for the past oh, well... too long for me to remember," she could feel herself blushing furiously.

"Oh, now that's a crying shame," he said, smiling widely at her. "Beautiful thing like you should be getting naked and sweaty with some young lad, eh?" he said, delicately testing the waters for any damned competition.

She held her breath. _He'd called her beautiful!_

"Have none of the officers from our little team caught your lovely eye? Or any of your other equally lovely parts?" he asked, his smile slipping slightly again.

"Um... no," she shook her head vehemently.

His smile perked up again at that.

"They're none of them really... well... my type," she said.

He nodded happily.

"Does my lovely groupie have a specific type of masculine perfection in mind?" he asked, his smile wavering again.

"Um…", she nibbled her lip. He stared at her.

"For example, my type at the moment, seems to be anyone probably _not_ interested in me, even though I am. In them. Interested, that is," he looked down sadly.

"Oh. Whoever she is, she'd be silly to pass up the opportunity to be with you," she said quietly. _What was he meaning? Did he mean her? Oh God, please let it be me_ she thought.

"Well, there's someone for everyone, or so I've been told," he sighed.

She took a deep breath, and a larger than usual drink of her wine. _Dutch Courage._

"I guess it's fairly specific. Type that is. For me. I'm a bit fussy…"

"Oh?" he asked.

"Yes," she said, "well, you see. My type is quite rare," she continued.

"Oh... a three legged man with antennas and hands for ears?" he waggled his hands beside his ears causing her to giggle. "Yes, that is quite rare," he added.

She smiled at his silliness.

"No," she gulped another mouthful of her drink. "My type, is a man who makes me feel good about myself, who makes me feel useful and part of something, who believes in me, who tells me I'm beautiful, even when I'm not particularly feeling that way," she finished.

"Oh," he said. "Lucky sodding man, whoever he is," he glumly took a large gulp of his wine.

She sighed. _He wasn't getting it._ She tried again.

"My type is a wonderful, funny, flamboyant, eccentric, really annoying and sometimes particularly _dense,_ handsome professor who I adore so very much. But I'm not entirely sure that he feels the same way about me," she looked down sadly.

"Oh?" he said.

The puzzled look on his face changed to a shocked one. Then changed into a delighted one. _Now he gets it_ , she thought.

"Oh!" he said again, smiling happily now.

He reached over with his hand and placed it on her cheek. Then stretched across the table, not caring what he knocked to the floor and kissed her. Thoroughly.


	10. Admissions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A motherly chat is had. Feelings are freely admitted. THAT KISS!!! Phew! (Also, sound echoes a lot in old buildings...)

Bea looked at her phone. A text from Inspector Deering, "My office. Now."

 _Not good_ , she thought.

"What's up, love?" Miller asked, noting that Bea had paused in her work and was staring at her phone.

"Um... Inspector Deering wants to see me..." she answered, nibbling her bottom lip.

"Oh," he said, "placing a hand on hers, "I'm sure it's nothing. Off you go, don't keep her waiting."

She stood and walked off. Knocking on the Inspector's door, waiting and going in when asked, closing the door behind herself. Her boss lowered the blinds, sat at her desk and motioned for Bea to sit in the chair on the other side of her desk. _Definitely not good!_ Bea thought as she fidgeted with her hands.

"So... you and Miller. I'll ask again, is it something I should be worried about or not?"

 _No messing about then, straight to the point_ Bea thought.

"Um…?" Bea asked.

"You two are shagging, are you not?"

 _No! Not shagging_ she thought. _That's too base for what we do. For how we feel._ _No! We do the most deliciously, toe-curlingly, wonderful love-making. God!_ _That man had done things... Things that I'd never experienced before. He'd makes me feel like I've never felt before._

Bea nodded at Inspector Deering, not able to risk actual speaking when she was thinking on Randolph's wicked, wicked tongue!

"And is it a short term frustration relief fling of epicly messy proportions, that I'm going to have to tidy up after? Or is it more long term?"

_No! No! No! It's more than that! Way more! We've spent so much time together now, to pull apart and just leave each other would break us both! I know I feel so much more for him than just lust, and the way he holds me and just looks at me, I know that he feels the same._

Bea smiled. "He said he cares deeply for me, and I... I love him," she whispered. She blushed, not having admitted the depth of her feelings to anyone else before now. Even him.

Inspector Deering sucked in a breath. Bea looked up and saw the older woman smiling at her with watery eyes. "You know about his… illness?"

"Yes," Bea said, "he told me," she admitted quietly.

"It doesn't put you off?"

It had scared her, at first. Not that he had this issue, but she was deathly scared that she'd let him down, or unwittingly make him worse and trigger a depressive episode. She'd done so much online research and he'd even invited her into some of his therapy sessions. Those had helped calm her, reassuring her that she was doing the right thing by him.

Bea shook her head. "It's who he is. I love him, all of him," she shrugged.

"Good," Deering said, nodding, "He's a good man, the most wonderful of men. I'd hate to see him hurt. Know this much. If it comes to a choice between the two of you, there'll be no hesitation in me kicking you the hell out if I see him hurting," she wagged her finger at Bea. "He likes to think of himself as the big, bad, angry bear, but he's a gentle soul," she said, fiercely defending her friend.

"He needs a loving heart to look after him. A good ear to talk to, to keep him straight. I've been watching you both, don't think I haven't, and he seems calmer with you around. So, I just wanted to check that you weren't going to use him and bale. Ok?"

"Yes Ma'am. I hope I'm all that and much more for him," Bea smiled. "I'm not going anywhere, as long as he wants me," she smiled.

"Good. You do make a vomit inducingly lovely couple. The PDAs don't bother me, but you might want to turn the volume down a bit when you're at it in his office. Old building. Sounds echo a lot," she smirked.

 _Oh God!_ Bea blushed and Deering chuckled.

"Right. Motherly chat over with."

Bea nodded. "Thank you, Ma'am."

"Off you pop then. Send Miller in, it's his turn now. And congratulations. I'm genuinely very happy for you both," she smiled at Bea.

Bea walked over to their corner of the office. It was most definitely _their_ corner now. She smiled as he looked over his shoulder at her, the corners of his mouth pulled upwards. _Oh, there it is, his beautiful smile!_ she sighed. She would always melt into nothingness at his handsome face, smiling at her like that. 

"Alright, love?" he asked, grabbing one of her hands and placing a kiss on her palm. 

"Yes, Randolph. Inspector Deering said for you to go in and see her now," she said.

"Oh!" he frowned. "What did she want?" he asked her as she sat next to him. He'd not let go of her hand, he was looking down at it, playing with her fingers, placing sweet kisses on her knuckles.

Bea reached a hand up and cupped his face, running a thumb over his cheek. He sighed, closing his eyes and leaning into her touch.

"She just wanted to know about what's going on with us, about how I feel about you," he opened his eyes and looked up sharply at her at that. "Don't worry, she just wants to make sure I'm not going to hurt you or disrupt the team."

She heard him gasp in a breath. He suddenly stood and strode over to Inspector Deering's office. Leaving her shocked and wondering to herself _Have I said something wrong...?_

She watched him enter their boss's office and sat, watching the closed door anxiously... Waiting... Her work forgotten.

The door opened after only ten minutes. Miller turned and smiled at her. _Oh! That's a good sign... One of his beautiful, bewitching smiles_ she thought hopefully. He strode over towards her, never breaking eye contact.

He sat, folding himself into the chair next to her, keeping her gaze held in place, grabbing her hands in his, crowding her personal space with his.

"Is it true?" he asked. His smile changed, dropping somewhat, the corners of his mouth dipping, his eyes blinked nervously. "What Viv told me... What you'd told her...?"

"What...? What's true Randolph...? I don't... I don't understand...?" she frowned. _What was he asking?_ she thought, shaking her head.

"That you... That you...," he swallowed and looked down at their joined hands, rubbing his thumbs over the top of hers.

"Randolph...?" 

He looked up, and licked his lips. "That you... Love me...?" he whispered the last part, looking back down at their hands.

"Yes," she breathed. "Yes Randolph. I love you."

He looked up at her. His wide, open mouth slowly closed, replaced by a lopsided smile. He released one of her hands and cupped her face, pulling her closer. His lips met hers and she closed her eyes. Leaning into his soft, gentle kiss. Letting his lips brush delicately over hers. He pulled away and she opened her eyes again. He was staring at her, his dark eyes held her in place, piercing her, asking her for more. 

He let go of her other hand, holding her face between his warm palms, drawing her closer. She closed her eyes as his lips crashed into hers. Opening her mouth with a swipe of his tongue along her lips, she granted his asked permission to delve into her. He devoured her completely. Nothing else mattered apart from how delicious his lips and tongue made her feel right then.

They finally pulled apart, the world around them coming into focus again as they panted, resting their foreheads against each other. Only then did she hear the whopping, cheering and clapping going on around them. She blushed and brought a hand up to her mouth, trying to cover up her giggles. 

Randolph turned around. Standing up and shielding her body with his.

"Go on! Away with you! Have you lot not got any work to do? Can't you leave a man be, to snog his missus in piece and quiet!"

Bea giggled. _Missus?_ She looked up at him, her love, as he battled the good natured banter with his own. Fencing it all back and away as the skillful Wordsmith that he was. Finally satisfied, he sat back down next to her.

"Best get on then, with some work I suppose love," he took her left hand, the one nearest to him and kissed her palm. Not releasing it as she worked on the laptop. It was interesting typing one handed, but she didn't care. Her heart wasn't really in it anyway. His playful fondling of her fingers and hand, interspersed with loving kisses to her knuckles meant that her attention wasn't really on her work anyway. She looked at the bottom right of the screen. Quarter to five. Not long before they could flee this place... Not long before she could be in his arms, properly kissing him and being kissed back...

"Alright, love?" he asked. 

She nodded a reply, not trusting herself to speak.

"Almost home time. Not long to wait before I get to kiss you properly..." he said, echoing her thoughts. "And not just on those lips, love," he touched a fingertip lightly onto her mouth, looking at her with the most wicked, dark-eyed, toothsome, lupine grin. He brought his fingertip over to his mouth, placing a kiss there and chuckling at her gasp and at the beautiful blush spreading up her face.


	11. Frustration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Professor Randolph Miller is that wicked, handsome, temptingly frustrating man!
> 
> (Here be smut.)

Bea knew what she wanted. But Randolph kept telling her ' _not yet_ '. And that was so very _frustrating_! It's all _his_ fault! That wicked, handsome, temptingly frustrating man!

-

She needed Randolph's hands or fingers or tongue. She'd tried to drag him into his office earlier, but he'd whispered ' _later love_ '. She'd even tried to plead with him to take her into the cab of one of the parked up vans, but he'd chuckled and said, ' _I'll sort you out later love_ '. _No! I need sorting out right now!_ she thought, gritting her teeth together.

He'd been whispering to her all day. Telling her what he was going to do to her _later_. He'd been whispering absolutely _filthy_ words to her. Smutty, dirty, _thrilling_ words. She loved it at first, the knowledge that he wanted her that way. But now, she was getting desperate. She _needed_ him. She needed him _right now_. Or she'd simply _explode_!

-

It had started at breakfast in the canteen. He'd leaned into her to reach a slice of bread from the pile in the middle of the table. As he'd done so, he'd whispered in her ear.

"I'm going to enjoy tasting you later love."

She gasped. _What?!_ The knife she'd been holding hit the floor with a loud CLANG! She'd squeaked an apology to the others who were sat with them and ducked under the table to retrieve it.

"Do you need a hand love?" He'd said loudly, as he leaned down under the guise of helping her and again whispered into her ear. "I'm going to give you a proper helping hand later love."

She'd banged her head on the underside of the table.

When she'd sat back down, he'd asked if she was ok, a merry look in his eyes and a cheeky grin on his face.

"What are you up to?" she'd whispered to him.

"You'll see," he'd said cryptically with a wink.

They'd all walked together as a group back to the office. He'd motioned for Bea to thread her arm in his and he'd marched them to the front of the group. That was odd. He usually liked to have them lag behind somewhat, so that he could hold her hand and chat, without their overly affectionate behaviour causing any comments from the others.

They'd gone a few steps when he'd leaned in and whispered, "I love to watch you while I make you peak Bea. I'm so looking forward to doing that with you later."

She'd looked up at him. He'd an innocent look on his face. So anyone watching would think that they were simply discussing the weather. She bit her lip. She did love the way he could make her feel. Wanted. _Loved._

He leaned in again. "But first I'm going to free your beautiful breasts from your bra. I'm going to suck and lick them until I get your nipples all hard."

She looked at him. _What?_ He turned and smiled at her innocently. He leaned in again.

"You've got beautiful breasts Bea. Just the right size for my hands."

She could feel a blush rising on her face… she could also feel herself becoming heated elsewhere too...

" _Randolph_..." she hissed at him. "The others will _hear_ you!" She looked behind her at the group following.

So did Randolph. He struck up a conversation with the others. About the weather.

They finally arrived at the office. Randolph handed her a file to log and leaned in to speak to her.

"I'm going to use my fingers on you later too. I can't wait to taste you. You taste so bloody delicious."

_GOD!_

"And promise me you'll not be sneaking off to the ladies for a quick release later, or this tongue stays firmly in my mouth," he stuck said tongue out at her to prove his point. "Promise?" he asked.

She nodded, "I promise."

He smiled and wandered off.

She lost her grip on the folder and it and it's contents fluttered to the floor. She watched him walk away. He turned and winked at her. She felt heat shoot towards her core. She wondered how much later Randolph actually meant when he said ' _later_ '. She wanted him _now_. She squeezed her thighs together to try and alleviate some of the ache.

She gathered up the fallen folder and it's papers and decided to concentrate on her job, to try and take her mind away from Randolph. And his hands, fingers, mouth, tongue. _Stop it! Think boring things!_ That's what Miller said he always did when he needed to calm down.

She was thinking boring thoughts so well, that she didn't hear Randolph sneaking up behind her later, when she was stood at the photocopier. She didn't realise he was there until he squeezed her bottom, causing her to jump and squeak.

"Hello Bea, love. I've been watching you bending over all morning." He leant in closer. "You've a fucking glorious arse Bea, I can't wait to give it a good squeeze later on while you're sat on my lap."

She only just managed to move her foot out of the way of the stapler that had fallen from her hand.

He'd walked away, whistling cheerfully.

 _Wicked man!_ He'd left her in the middle of the office _wanting_ him. _Badly._ She tried squeezing her thighs together again but only got a tiny bit of relief. She'd need something more soon.

She sighed and carried on filing. _Think boring thoughts… Think boring thoughts..._

Randolph came over as she was carrying a pile of folders ready to file away.

"Finished with those then love?" He asked.

"Oh. Yes..." she replied. _Oh good, no more smutty comments._

He leant in as he took the folders from her. "I'll finish _you_ off later too, love. Give that nub of yours a right good going over till you finish." _Oh God, I spoke too soon!_

He winked at her and took her pile of folders away. Walking away like he'd just talked about the weather again. Leaving her standing empty handed in the middle of the office like an idiot, feeling so much _need_.

That's when she'd tried to pull him behind the lockers, to get some relief.

"Not now, love. I've got to go back to the mortuary for a while." Then he'd whispered to her, "Don't worry, I'll sort you out properly later. I do so love your taste. I could lick you out all day."

She'd had to hold herself back from moaning by biting her tongue. She'd need _hours_ of more boring filing to calm herself down after that thought.

When he returned, a few hours later, he'd begun handing out sticks of seaside rock. Freebies from an equipment company supplying the mortuary, or so he'd said. He'd sauntered over to her, grinning, rock in hand. _Oh God, what was he going to say now?_

"Here you go my love. A nice long hard length for you to hold on to."

He handed her the rock. She took it and looked up at him. Waiting...

"I can help you get your grip right if you like?"

She squinted at him suspiciously.

He grinned at her and leaned down, moving closer, until his lips brushed her ear. "You can practice your grip on the rock now for when you're handling my cock later, love." He pulled back, standing up and winked at her.

 _Oh! That terrible man!_ She was positively _dripping_!

The boring files in the boring filing cabinet weren't helping any more now. She'd hid the rock in her desk, locking it away in a drawer, as while she could see it, she couldn't help but think of him.

She'd gone over to him when he was setting up a meeting room and asked if he wanted her help with anything.

"Sorry, love, I've got to crack on with this." He leaned in to whisper in her ear. "Don't worry, keep yourself nice and wet for me, for later. Just imagine my fingers pushing inside you."

She'd had to bite down _hard_ on her tongue to stop her desperate moan from escaping as others started ambling into the room.

The slow trudge back to her desk had helped calm her down. She saw Randolph talking to Inspector Deering in the corridor, next to the team's office. Now was her chance! She went over and asked if he could please help her with something. In his office. _Now!_

"Can't right now, love. Got to carry all these files up to the office, for admin to go through." He patted a pile of folders that were sitting on the cabinet next to him.

He'd leaned in close and whispered in her ear. "I'll come find you really soon, my lovely groupie. Almost done here. I can't wait to hear you moan my name as you peak love, it makes me so hard." He then gave her the wickedest of grins.

She watched him walk away. _No!_ She was going to get some relief and she was going to get it now!

She stood, waited at the filing cabinet for Miller to return for another pile of files.

"Randolph," she said, "could you please bend down a bit," she asked him innocently. She placed her hand on his shoulder and reached up so her mouth was right next to his ear. "I'm going to go into your office now Randolph Miller. I'm going to play with myself and make myself peak. You know where I'll be if you want to watch... Or help..." He looked down at her. His wicked, wicked grin was back.

" _Beatrice_ " his voice was deep and gravely, almost a growl. "You little _minx_! Give me 15 minutes to finish here and I'll join you."

"Ten!" she countered and smiled back at him. She leaned in to whisper to him again. "I'm sooo ready for you Randolph. So wet. I need you. _Right. Now!_ "

She walked into his office and hoped he'd not let her wait too damn long.

By her reckoning, she'd only had to wait six minutes before he burst through the office door. She giggled.

"You took your time," she said to him.

"I'm here now though, love!" He locked the door and turned back towards her. His eyes latched onto hers. His wicked grin was back. He slowly stalked towards where she was sitting, on his chair behind his desk. She squirmed. She couldn't help but feel like a rabbit or deer caught in car headlights.

"Randolph?" she bit her lip.

He stopped next to her, and sat on his desk in front of where she was sat in his chair and put a hand under her chin. He lifted her face up to look up at him, then he leant down so his face was close to hers. Their lips almost, but not quite, touching. The only place they were touching was his hand under her chin. Her face burnt at that small place where they met.

"Bea, love," he finally spoke, his voice low and quiet. "Are you wet for me?"

She nodded, her breathing speed up.

"Good. I'm going kiss you now love, kiss you all over, paying special care to your beautiful breasts. Then I'm going to make you peak, with my fingers. I'm going to kiss you again, going lower and lower, until I'm between your thighs."

Bea was panting heavily now.

He smiled and continued. "Then I'm going to taste you. Make you peak on my tongue."

"Randolph…!" she moaned.

"But only if you tell me, Bea."

"Randolph…?"

"Tell me what you want, Bea."

"I want _you_ Randolph. God I want you so _much_! _Please_ Randolph! I need you. _Please_. _Now!_ "

He was panting now too. Their rapid breath mingled together.

His hands moved to cup her face and he kissed her. She moaned, and he growled. A whole day of pent up frustration and desperate wanting was released there and then.

He broke away from their kiss. Their foreheads resting against each other, both panting. Randolph took her hand and turned them so they had swapped places. He sat on his chair, and she stood in front of him.

He undid her belt. Pulled her trousers down and off. He undid her blouse, releasing her breasts from her bra. He pulled her closer, pulling her onto his lap so she was straddling him. He grabbed her bum and squeezed, just as he'd promised to earlier. He leant down and took one of her nipples in his mouth. Licking and sucking till it pebbled. He then turned his attention to her other breast, doing the same. He let go of that nipple with a pop of his lips, pulling her in to kiss her on the lips deeply again.

She was bucking against his lap now, trying to rub herself against him to release some of her want.

He reached down with one of his hands, not breaking their kiss and reached into her knickers. _God, she was absolutely SODDEN!_

She'd broken free of his kiss, panting heavily now. It only took two swipes of her nub to get her to her peak. She collapsed against him, forehead resting on his shoulder, hands gripping his shirt, trying to get her breath back.

"Worth the wait, love?" he chuckled.

Her answer was a nod, it was too much effort for her to speak just then, as her breathing calmed.

"I've not finished with you yet, love. He bucked up into her core. She moaned again… He laughed.

He stood her up and removed her knickers, then changed their positions again, so now she was sat on the edge of his desk and he was kneeling between her legs.

"Alright, love?"

"Yes Randolph. But maybe…?"

"What is it love? What do you want?"

"You Randolph Miller. I want you. Kiss me… _Please_ …"

He pulled her down for another kiss. Breaking away from her lips and now kissing a loving trail down her body. Kissing each nipple and nipping at one with his teeth, which produced a gasp from her. He kissed lower, her bellybutton, her mound and finally he settled himself between her legs, spreading her open with a hand on each of her thighs. He kissed along her upper legs and she dropped back onto her elbows, her hands gripping whatever paperwork was under them on his desk.

"What, love? What do you want?"

"Kiss me. _Please._ Down there. _Please Randolph!_ "

He licked her core from bottom to top, swirling his tongue around her nub. A low moan escaped from her. She moaned his name. The noise making his cock twitch in the confines of his trousers. She was so wet, already so close to peaking again. He slowed down his tongue, moving away so he could push inside her, one finger, then two. Slowly moving them in and out, watching her face. He moved back up to kiss her mouth, while his fingers made love to her.

He broke from their kiss, not stopping his fingers from moving inside her.

"Open your eyes love. Look at me." She opened her eyes and looked into his.

"Look at me while I make you come." He pulled his fingers out from her and sucked her juices from them. He then moved back down and resumed licking and sucking and laving her till she came loudly, falling back to lie on his desk.

Watching her beautiful face as she peaked had made him so very hard. She finally opened her eyes and propped herself up on her elbows, smiling happily at him.

"Swap places please," Never one to argue with his love, he did so. Him sitting on his desk. Her kneeling between his legs. She undid his trousers and pulled his cock out, placing small kisses upon his length, kissing down him. She looked up at him and smiled. She licked him all the way back up to his tip. He moaned. She sucked the clear fluid that gathered there, then wrapped her small hands around him. She looked up at him, smiling, then took him in her mouth. He moaned her name. She sucked and ran her hands up and down. One pump, two, three and he came. Loudly. Falling back on the desk, just as she had earlier.

"God, Bea! You're getting better at that," he chuckled, his breathing finally slowing down to normal again.

She sighed. "Best get dressed, or they'll send search parties out for us, wondering what we're up to."

They righted their clothing and checked over each other, she pulled a post-it note from Miller's hair and giggled.

"Oh, I think they've a fair idea what we were doing," he chuckled. "You're not very quiet, love."

She blushed and he laughed and kissed her.

They went back to the office, into the meeting room, just in time for the briefing.

"Hello, loves. Glad you could join us. Had fun?" Inspector Deering said, a knowing grin on her face.

"Oh, by the way, you've a post-it in your hair Beatrice," Inspector Deering added.

Randolph laughed and Bea blushed as she reached up and quickly shoved it into her pocket, giving him a glare.


	12. Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gossip is never a good thing. It always has consequences. But love overcomes all.

She knew something wasn't right when he didn't answer any of her texts that morning. He always answered her 'good morning' or 'good night' texts if they hadn't spent the night together.

Now, he wasn't answering his phone when she called either.

She knocked on Inspector Deering's office door. She waited impatiently for the shouted 'Enter' and rushed inside.

"Well?" Deering asked.

"It's Randolph, Ma'am. He's not answering this phone. Permission to go and find him, please...?"

She nodded. Viv exited her room and shouted at one of the officers outside.

"Jonah, give Beatrice here a lift. She'll tell you where. Let me know," this last sentence whispered to Bea.

-

Bea gave Jonah Miller's address and she tried phoning him as they sped there. "Pick up, please pick up." She heard a quiet "Beatrice," as he finally answered.

"Randolph! I'm on my way round now, have the door unlocked and please don't do _anything_ silly." A quiet 'yes' was his reply, "I'm almost there. I love you!" 

"I love you too," he replied. She smiled at his answer. If he admitted that, then he'd probably be ok.

The car came to a halt. She thanked Jonah profusely and ran inside the house. Randolph was sat on the floor in the hallway, tears streaming down his face. He looked up as she came in and shut the door behind her. He offered her a sad, watery smile. She ran over to him, dropping before him. She held his face in her hands. "Randolph...?" she asked. He shook his head. She wrapped him up in a hug and felt his arms go round her.

They sat there, in a muddled hesp as she murmured reassurances to him, told him how much she loved him, how much she missed him every second of every day. She stroked his face gently, wiped away the tears that were slowly rolling down his cheeks.

"I'm sorry love," he said. "Sorry for worrying you. I just wanted to hide. I've not... I mean I'm not going to do anything silly... You don't need to worry about that. I just..." he sighed. "I just need you to let me go. You're better off without me." he looked down sadly.

"No, that's not true! I'll not let you go. Never! Not now I've just found you. My perfect man," she said softly.

He sighed sadly, wiping his tears away with the back of his hand.

"I overheard them... talking in the tea room... Yesterday night... After you'd left," he shook his head, his tears returning.

"Who...?" she asked.

"Dunno," he shrugged, "just some randoms. Officers, young lads. I heard my name. And yours. They didn't see me, so I got closer and hung around to see what else they'd say," he shook his head sadly. "I should know better. You never hear anything good eavesdropping, do you?"

"What did they say Randolph?" she whispered.

"They were saying how I'm not good enough for you. I'm too old for you. What would you want with a silly old miserable messed up git like me? You could be with anyone else they said," he sniffed. "They're... they're probably right…" he said, sobbing between his words.

"Oh, love! No! Listen to me my darling beautiful man, my brilliant lover. I don't want anyone else, you silly fool! I love _you_! Nobody else! You! D'you hear me? I love you, please, please believe me! Do you know how much I love you?"

He looked up at her, hope in his sad eyes.

"Professor Randolph Miller, I've never met anyone like you before. You're amazing! At what you do. And who you are. Your brilliance is a shining beacon of excellence for everyone to aspire to. Your mind a honed tool, sharper than the sharpest blade, picking out the smallest of details any lesser man would have missed. Inspector Deering told me that you were the best that first night in the bar, after our first day together. Do you remember that night?"

He nodded.

"She's right! Viv. You are the best, in every way!"

"You piqued my interest the moment I first googled you. I didn't care what anyone else said about you, what they told me. I wanted to get to know you, the real you. I jumped at the chance to work with you. I volunteered, do you remember?"

He stared at her and nodded again.

"When did I know I felt more than I should as a work colleague towards you? I'm not sure. Possibly from when I first saw you, when you waved over at me in the office. Remember that? Or maybe when you made sure I got home ok that first night?"

"Do you remember when you tried to fix my coat zip?"

Again, he nodded.

"When you over-lubricated me?"

He smiled at that memory.

"Do you remember our positions when you were trying to get the zip to work?"

He nodded, looking at her with a watery smile.

"You were sitting, leaning down, face that close to me, here," she pointed at her core.

"I wasn't wobbly because I was tired, like you guessed. I'd looked down at you playing with that zip, and all I could see was that same picture, but with us naked and you… with your face. There… I was so wet at that thought. I was wobbly because I was desperately trying to squeeze my thighs together to get some relief after picturing us like that. God! I thought you'd be able to smell me from there."

"I could. I did. I had a wonderful wank that night thinking of you," he said, the small smile on his face now joined by a chuckle, his crying had stopped.

"Your smiles are so beautiful, you always melt me at 500 yards with one of your dazzling smiles. The ones where you know that you've got a particularly juicy piece of information that no one else has and you're absolutely dying to share with me. Or if your feeling particularly frisky. That smile of yours is so amazingly infectious, but absolutely devestating," she stroked his cheek.

"You're voice. _God!_ I have to sit right at the back in the briefings as listening to your voice just does _things_ to me as it travels through me. And then, when you whisper filthy thoughts into my ear with that low gravelly voice, telling me what you're wanting to do to me later," she shook her head, "that voice just travels straight to my core."

"That day you spent whispering to me, teasing me, I was _that_ close to going for a quick release in the ladies, but I couldn't, I'd promised you. Remember?" He nodded, smiling brightly now.

"Do you remember how once I had finally got you alone in your office that afternoon, all you had to do was touch me twice and I came? You had me sopping wet all day, just with your voice!"

"I remember love, you were definitely over-lubricated that day, not that I was complaining," he smiled happily up at her.

"Your kisses. _Oh God!_ Your kisses inflame me so much. From small pecks on the cheek to full on toe curling, heat inducing, passionate kisses. All your kisses in all their myriad forms are so special to me. I've never been kissed as passionately as you've kissed me. No one compares to you when it comes to kissing."

"And Jesus! That tongue of yours," she shook her head. " _God, that wicked tongue!_ The things that you do to me with it…!" she shook her head again and laughed, lost for words.

"Your hands," she grabbed his hands, "your wicked, _wicked_ hands. So clever, so delicate, so strong, so loving. They can undo me in so many different ways," she kissed each hand in turn. "You know just how to hold me, to comfort me, to make me feel happy, safe. You know just where to touch me, to love me, where to feel me, to give me the most amazing, wonderful orgasms I've ever had."

"You're the most considerate, amazing, passionate lover I've ever had, you're the only one I'll ever want. I _daren't_ tell anyone else what we get up to, like I hear some of the other girls do. I'm scared they'll be jealous and try to steal you away from me!"

He shook his head vehemently at this.

"Inspector Deering is right. You are the best. You're the best lover I've ever had, the only one I want," she added quietly. Placing a kiss on his lips.

"It's not you who should be worrying, love. You're the most amazing, wonderful, handsome, passionate, brilliant Professor Randolph Miller. The one and only. I'm just some geeky nerd," she shrugged.

"Im a no one. A disgraced no one all the way up here at the arse end of the butt hole of no-where. All because no one else would touch me with a ten foot barge pole. It should be me who's worrying, not you," she shook her head sadly.

"You could have anyone, why would you want me? You're not the only one who's heard gossip," she said quietly. "I heard others question what you see in me, how I'm too young for you, no experience, how you'll get fed up of me sooner or later and find a real woman. Not some silly little girl like me."

"No love! That's not true!" he hugged her tightly, "I love you, I only want you. You're the bright shining beacon I look to in my foggy mess of existence. You're my hope, my darling beautiful other half. You complete me. I'd be absolutely lost without you. You're my angel, my one and only, my lovely little groupie," he chuckled at that and kissed her.

They could taste salty tears on each other's lips, but they didn't care. They had each other.

They kissed and held each other tightly, smiling and laughing and crying. But happy, secure in each other's love. He stroked her face lovingly. A wobbly smile back on his face. He sighed.

"I'm sorry for scaring you, love," he said.

"She took his hands in hers, kissing each in turn and holding them tightly. "No need to apologise, no harm done," she squeezed his hands and gave him her brightest, albeit a little watery, smile.

"Breakfast love?" he asked. "I'm starving!"

Bea nodded. "I just need to phone Inspector Deering, tell her we're both ok, alright my darling man?"

He nodded happily. "Ok, love."

His bright smile was back. She kissed his nose as her phone rang.

"Deering?" Bea put her phone on speaker as the Inspector answered.

"Hi Ma'am, it's Beatrice. We're both ok. Just book us both as having a day off sick, please, if that's ok with you Ma'am?"

"A shared duvet day," Randolph happily shouted down the phone.

"Ok, no problem. Hello Miller, you silly old sod. I'm glad everything's good. See you both tomorrow. Give the old git a hug from me will you Bea. Bye, loves."

Bea put the phone down and leant against Randolph.

His arms wrapped tightly around her as she leant her head against his chest. He kissed the top of her head and sighed happily.

"Did I tell you that you give the most amazing hugs?" she asked him.

"No love. A grave omission," he chuckled, "but I'm sure you'll make it up to me later on, after breakfast maybe?"

-

Later that afternoon, while contentedly curled up around each other's naked bodies after making sweet, slow, passionate love, Bea reached for her phone.

"I found something, on the internet, that I've been wanting to read out to you Randolph, it's a bit cheesy, but expresses exactly how I feel about you, better than I ever could. I've just not found the right time to show you. If it's ok with you, I think now might be that moment?" she said.

He looked up at her, a worried look on his face. "Don't worry, it's nothing bad. The opposite in fact. I read it and thought of you, it kind of sums up how I feel about you."

"Go ahead my lovely, beautiful groupie," he smiled.

She picked up her phone, found the link and started reading.

-

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.  
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height  
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight  
For the ends of being and ideal grace.  
I love thee to the level of every day's  
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.  
I love thee freely, as men strive for right.  
I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.  
I love thee with the passion put to use  
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.  
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose  
With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath,  
Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,  
I shall but love thee better after death.

-

"How Do I Love Thee? Sonnet 43 by Elizabeth Barrett Browning," Randolph said, wiping tears from his eyes and hers. "The feeling is mutual love."

He kissed her then, putting all his feelings for her into that one kiss. Desire and adoration, worship, want and lust, but mostly... love.

**Author's Note:**

> Random Trivia Note: 
> 
> Randolph Name Meaning: Origin = English & German. It is the classicised spelling of Randolf, a Germanic personal name composed of the elements rand ‘rim’ (of a shield), ‘shield’ + wolf ‘wolf’. This was introduced into England by Scandinavian settlers in the Old Norse form Rannúlfr, and was reinforced after the Norman Conquest by the Norman form Randolf.
> 
> -
> 
> The term 'groupie' is a slang word that refers to a fan of a particular musician, celebrity, or musical group who follows this person or band around while they are on tour or who attends as many of their public appearances as possible, usually in hopes of getting to meet them.
> 
> -
> 
> The male lead character is mentioned as being bipolar. It isn't stated per se, in the series that this fic is based on, that he is definitely bipolar, or as to what degree this mental illness affects him. There are several implications as to the symptoms he suffers, but nothing explicit, which is the way I've tried to keep things here. I'm not a medical specialist, so any errors depicting this illness and how it's dealt with are my fault and not meant to cause offense to any sufferers. 
> 
> -
> 
> I don't work in a police station and don't know Manchester. Also, I am an IT support specialist and analyst (nerd), but I know practically zero about hacking or anything like that. I can, however, write a 'hello world' routine in VB, and ask you 'have you tried switching it off and on again?', yay me!
> 
> Please remember that this is FICTION. And most of my shoddy research was done using good old google!


End file.
